The Disney World Girls
by MK Princess
Summary: Five girls are on vacation to the most magical place on Earth, but something evil is brewing underneath the magic and they are called upon to stop it. Together, Lucy, Kyra, Marcia, Steph, and Alex must keep the parks from fading out of existence— the fate of Disney hangs in the balance and in their hands.
1. The Most Magical Place on Earth

**Hi everybody! Sorry it's been literally forever. Just wanted to let you know, I was formerly known as themaidwiththebraid, but that username is dead, along with the story I was writing with it. I'm starting fresh, and here's hoping for a more consistent update schedule! Enjoy!**

I make sure to ride "it's a small world" every week on Friday. I smile and wave at all the kids, and they wink back at me— we share our little secret.

They're real kids, you see— or they act like them, really. They all play together after the park closes, all mixed-up, different ones in the wrong countries, all singing, talking, and making up games. I've seen them, and I know I can count on them to help me, and the parks of course, whenever we need them.

It was a while back. I was in the Magic Kingdom on a hot summer day in late June, and something that changed my entire life happened…

"Yeah, mom, I'll be right there, I just want to go on small world first." I huffed to my mom through my cell phone over the pouring rain. My family had dinner reservations at "Be Our Guest"...soon, I wasn't exactly sure when. Anyway, I was right outside "it's a small world", and they were waiting for me outside Belle and the Beast's castle. With the rain, by the time we met up and got in, it would be late.

"I'll get there in time! Relax, will you? Okay, love you too, bye."

But before I headed to eat, I wanted to take a quick ride on the happiest cruise that ever sailed the seven seas.

I stepped into the attraction's beautifully decorated queue, and joined the line. I shifted my gaze up to the clock face that tipped from side to side, and smiled at it.

I tapped my fingers on the metal rail beside me, and sang the iconic theme song under my breath in English and Spanish, since I had been taking it since the seventh grade.

As I boarded the teal boat and set sail, I waved to the ride operator, an act not done uncommonly by guests. But I winked at the blond college boy knowingly. His sister was a friend from school; I had Science, History, and study hall with her.

I sat back as the boat rounded the bend in the track and put my arms up and behind my head. I looked up at the signs being held up by downlookers from Pinocchio Village Haus. I wondered for a moment to sing Let It Go or do the Funky Chicken, before deciding on the second so I wouldn't ruin the experience waiting inside for others. I was unfazed by the other guests in my boat who were— unsettled by my behavior.

I relaxed myself once more as I entered the children's world of fun and laughter. I hummed along to the catchy tune usually mislabeled as "repetitive" and "annoying." It was so sweet, and symbolized heaven on Earth, what was annoying about that? And another thing, "repetitive?" The arrangement and language changed from region to region, how was that repetitive?

I was humming along and smiling at my favorite dolls, totally in my element. The ride was looking good, all of the sets were in great shape, the music was working fantastically, the boats hadn't even backed up yet—

But then something happened that wasn't supposed to. I saw something the average guest wasn't supposed to see. Little did I know, soon I'd be discovering I was far from the average guest.

A dancing doll from the Asia room stopped her melodic kicks to brush a piece of dark hair out of her face.

I'd gone on that ride tons of times before and seen YouTube videos of it even more, and that wasn't supposed to happen.

But it didn't look like a malfunction, either. Her face changed and small mouth breathed heavily. Then she regained her composure and quickly went back to dancing, almost every inch a human being.

I looked around me frantically. No one else seemed to have seen the thing, but I was sure it was no figment of my imagination—Hah! Figment! I thought for the smallest moment.

I took a deep breath, reality checking in and telling me I was just seeing things. Or maybe it was just a malfunction! Yeah, it must have been, I thought. Of course, a malfunction.

The word malfunction was starting to taste like stale bread in my mouth. Malfunction, malfunction, malfunction.

Still, I couldn't shake the feeling something was horribly wrong as I stepped out of the cheery boat and back outside to the now bright Florida sunshine I knew so well.

I stared at the queue for a minute, bewildered. The crowds of people didn't deter me, as I wondered what could have happened.

"Excuse me, Princess, but do you need some help? Where are your parents?" I was jolted out of my thoughts by a cast member named…Karen.

"Um, no thanks," I mumbled blankly. Wait, my parents!

I ran into the crowd, waving over my shoulder to Karen with a "Bye! Have a magical day!" I made a beeline for the Beast's Castle, praying I would be on time. Midway there it started to pour again. Great.

I finally got there soaking wet and angry after pleading with the Cast Members outside to let me in without making a scene. I knew my mom wouldn't like that, and the last thing I needed to do was ruin my relationship with her at Disney World right at the start of summer vacation.

I scanned the ballroom, hoping my parents would be there and I wouldn't have to keep looking in the other rooms…

There they were, a cast member talking to them. I rushed over through the people.

"Yes, ma'am, but we're going to have to see everyone in your party to let you sit,"

"I'm here! I mean, I'm here— Mom, Dad...Ken," I caught my breath and plastered on a wide smile.

We sat down and I hid behind a menu, staring at a picture of the Grey Stuff.

"Lucy, why were you so late?" Mom asked, a little loudly for my comfort.

Dad looked at me and shook his head.

"Come on, Melinda, she's here, isn't she? How was your ride on small world, honey,"

I gulped. "Great Dad, thanks. Mom, I'm sorry, I won't do that again,"

"Alright, honey, let's just eat, okay?" But her blue eyes smiled.

All through the meal my mind drifted back to small world and the doll. I couldn't tell them, and just the thought of that made me realize how silly it was. I just needed to relax and enjoy my happy place.

After we left Be our Guest we saw it was surprisingly late. The sky was quickly getting tinted with darkness, and the lights adorning the park for night were coming on. I breathed a calming breath. It was okay. I was in Disney.

"Well, Lucy, do you wanna watch Happily Ever After or try to get on another ride before closing?" Dad asked, pushing his black glasses up his sharp but attractive nose.

"Both, Dad," I narrowed my eyes in determination. "Let's make it to Pirates first,"

Mom smiled. "Whatever you say, sweetheart, it's not like we paid to go on this vacation, anyway and might not want to run around subject to our daughter's every whim,"

"Yeah, yeah, but you know one day you're gonna get so wrapped up in this it's gonna end up coming out of my college money,"

"Not a chance!"

"You never know," Dad winked.

We walked up to the queue, the toe-tapping tune of "Yo Ho," flowing into our ears. I whisper-sang to myself, my family joining in. Before long, we'd broken out into full song.

"We're rascals and scoundrels, we're villains and knaves, drink up, me 'hearties, yo ho! We're devils and black sheep, we're really bad eggs, drink up me 'hearties, yo ho!" I started to dance, Mom and Dad going along a little bit after. A few other guests joined in, while some stared. But we didn't mind, if you couldn't tell.

We boarded the boat and set sail for the high seas, me still humming the song. We floated past the scenes, my face growing into a bigger smile with every one. I sang and sat back in the boat.

As we sailed past the Auction scene, I heard the pirate Redd say, "Send them hens to Davy Jones! It's the rum they want!"

I scoffed in disgust. "Send them Imagineers to Davy Jones, it's the old redhead _I _want," I muttered.

"I know, Lucy," Dad rubbed my shoulder affectionately. "You say something like this every time we go on,"

We rode through, me grimacing at the Auctioneer's new voice.

Then we got off and spilled out into the gift shop, ogling the merch. From outside the smell of someone with a Mickey bar filled my nose. I knew exactly what my parents were thinking.

"Do you wanna stay in here, Lucy, while we get the food?" Mom asked.

I shrugged, looking at a set of pins. "Sure,"

I continued to look around the room and finding cool things to see. But suddenly, I collided with someone….well, more like something—a camera.

A girl was behind it, though. As it tumbled to the ground she screeched and dove for it faster than the Test Track cars.

"Sorry," she said, with the slightest of a Mediterranean accent. She looked about my age, and was pretty, with long, honey-blond hair and bright turquoise eyes that examined her prize possession with a caring look in them.

"Thank the Mouse— not a scratch," she whispered, then looked back up at me.

"It happens more than you'd think, actually," she sighed good-naturedly. "My strap's really worn out, I have to get a new one," she played with the pastel pink strap holding her camera around her neck.

She stared at a plush of Minnie dressed as Redd with disgust.

"Ugh, they never should've changed it. It was fine just the way it was for fifty years,"

I gasped. Someone like me!

"I know! The writings awful, the Auctioneer's new voice stinks, and

the animatronic's just ugly! They ruined the legacy of the redhead and no one was saying anything about the scene until they said they were getting rid of it!"

"Yes! My name's Kyra,"

"Mine's Lucy,"

Just then, a little kid ran and bumped into Kyra, knocking her camera off its strap. It fell again, this time scratching its way to a door labeled "Cast Members only". The camera opened the lock and clattered through to the other side. How, I had no idea then. Now though, I guess it was magic. What else?

We looked at each other in shock.

Then she slipped through— it looked like she had barely had a second thought.

The room was an average backstage area, with different pieces of merch and a few prototypes I really wanted to get a better look at, but Kyra needed to find her camera.

"Oh, where is it— I don't wanna get banned!" She moaned to the tune of my racing heart. I might've actually died if I had been banned from the park.

"Where is it!" She threw things around feverishly, and I bent down to help her. A part of me was thinking that if she did find her camera at this point, she wouldn't really want it.

"What in the Disney World is this?" She held up a glowing blue necklace shaped like Mickey on a silver chain. The light was so bright it was kind of blinding.

"I don't know— wait, why're you putting it on?"

"I'm not sure...it just feels right,"

All of a sudden my phone started to buzz in the pocket of my denim shorts. It must've been Mom and Dad.

I picked up.

"Hi, Mom, hi Dad, I'm just hanging out with the girl I just met. We're in Fantasyland. We're watching people clear out. I'll meet you back at Beach Club later, okay?" I held my breath.

It was Mom. "Okay, honey, just try to tell us before you leave next time, okay?"

I smiled at Kyra. She was holding her camera and examining it. It looked fine to me, I didn't really know how, though. She was just really lucky, I guessed.

"Okay, bye,"

"Hey, there's another one here," She pulled out of the pile of stuff another necklace. As soon as she did, I couldn't take my eyes off it. Even though it was the same one she had on, it made me feel different. Like I was under the best kind of spell. And I sort of was.

I held it gingerly and put it on as fast as I could. Something magical had come over me. I felt complete.

Just then, we heard awful footsteps coming our way. A Cast Member!

"Oh," I whispered. "If we were in Disneyland, this never would've happened!"

Apparently Kyra was thinking the same thing. Not really something necessarily true depending on the specific circumstance, but that wasn't the point.

The point was that at that moment, I felt myself pop from the room, and the next thing I knew I was face-to-face with Sleeping Beauty Castle.

**Also, credit must go to my amazing sister, who helped in the creation of Kyra!**


	2. Dreams Do Come True

I stared up in disbelief at the castle. I'd never been to Disneyland. My mom had claustrophobia and my dad had a fear of flying, so we went to the World since we lived so close.

I was sure I was dreaming, or delusional from the fear, or hallucinating— this was just a malfunction…

Yet my life had never felt so beautiful and real.

Sleeping Beauty Castle, where Uncle Walt himself had stood and said, "To all who come to this happy place, welcome."

Kyra gasped, her eyes like saucers. I wondered if she had ever gone to Disneyland.

Then she said in a singsong voice, "I want to go back to Disney World."

In a second, she was gone.

I thought I might've passed out. I should've passed out.

I could describe the whole thing in two words: sensory overload.

Or just one: magical.

Both applied.

I thought of being back in the World for a split second, and then I opened my eyes to the storage room, the air conditioning hitting me like a gust of wind, which I practically never felt, living in Florida.

But we weren't alone.

A blond girl had her back bent over a shelf of whatsits, mumbling about something, and she turned her head as we came back.

I couldn't breathe.

It was a Rapunzel.

She saw us and she would report us to Security and we'd be banned.

At least, that's what I thought.

Her big green eyes studied us curiously.

"Where did you come from?"

I thought I might've passed out. I should've passed out.

"We…"

But Kyra had no idea what to say.

What could you say?

Then the eyes lit up with a sudden realization, and I was really confused.

"You're the girls!"

What girls? I thought.

"Come on,"

She walked over to us and held out her hand. Kyra tentatively took it, and then she held mine.

I wanted to know what she was doing and where she was taking me.

"I'm Rapunzel, by the way," she said excitedly as she pulled us through the deserted park closer and closer to the castle. She chatted about how happy everyone was going to be, how satisfied she was to have found us first.

Was it some kind of insane trick?

Spoiler alert: it wasn't.

She took us into the castle, and my everywhere felt electrified. I was in Cinderella Castle. And for whatever reason I was, it wasn't for her Royal Table.

She let go of Kyra, but my hand stayed locked with Kyra's.

"Yeah," she said, smiling at us. "This is it,"

I was absolutely starstruck.

Flabbergasted.

Thought I was dreaming.

I was light and dizzy as the Rapunzel led us up...up to the Suite.

Kyra and I stared at each other and I think we both squeaked.

The Cinderella Castle Suite?

Yeah.

What was even better was that a Cinderella herself was there.

My mouth opened and closed like a fish. Everything was not computing. At all.

"Oh, Rapunzel," she got up in the most regal way possible and looked at us. "You found two more,"

_Two more what? _I thought.

Then she hugged us.

After, she told us to sit down on the bed and said she and Rapunzel would explain.

I knew it was a dream. It had to be.

A really weird and crazy and confusing dream.

But it really wasn't, no matter how many times I told myself it was.

The Cinderella took a deep breath.

"First, I think you both should know that I'm real. We all are,"

The _real _Cinderella?

The real Cinderella.

The real Cinderella?

The real Cinderella!

"And we fear there is a great darkness coming to our happy place. For quite some time now, the Villains have been getting stronger. Faith in our magic has been dwindling, and we think they are trying to break out of the prison we keep them in. And if they do, who knows what they'll do?" Her blue eyes welled up with tears. I was way too shocked to console her. It was too much to take in.

"So, we called for _special _people. People who believe in the magic and can help us. We discovered the spell to summon you just recently, and cast it as soon as we could. So, you've got a lot riding on your shoulders. We're not strong enough to do this alone,"

Rapunzel put a hand on one of each of our shoulders.

"We don't want to overwhelm you, though. Tonight, we just want you to—"

Just then, a girl came out of the bathroom wearing the necklace, smoothing out her checked skirt.

"Oh, Marcia, we were just explaining everything to these two girls," Rapunzel walked over to the prim-looking girl.

"Girls— what are your names, by the way? Anyway, meet Marcia. She's gonna be one of your partners,"

I shook my head. None of this could be happening. No. No.

When I stopped shaking my head Marcia and Rapunzel were still standing next to each other.

It had to be a trick. Just a mean joke a cast member was playing. I'd have seen it on the news the next day— "Girls Get Banned From Disney World, Pranked by Princess Character Actresses."

Then into the room came two more girls, both around my age like Marcia and Kyra, and wearing necklaces identical to mine.

One had bright pink hair and was wearing all black, and the other was wearing a green jersey-striped T-shirt. Like Marcia, neither of them were wearing Disney clothes.

"Get off me, I'll scream again," The girl with the pink hair was yelling and cursing. Oh, I forgot to say— Mulan and Merida were holding them.

I guess they weren't as compliant as Kyra and I were.

"Now," Rapunzel said, a stern look on her pretty face and two fingers pointed at us. I didn't notice they got us to stand in a circle.

"What are your names? Let's get that stuff out of the way first,"

We exchanged names: Kyra, Lucy, Alex, Marcia, and Stephanie— Steph, she said.

"Like I was saying," Rapunzel continued. "Tonight you're probably disoriented and taking it all in, so we just want you to go on two rides. Splash Mountain and Small World. There's been some weird stuff happening to the rides, and we want you to go check it out,"

"We're all so busy it's hard to actually go to see what's going on— we have to sleep too, you know. And we want you to experience it for yourselves. So, there's your mission," Mulan said, crossing her arms and frowning at Steph, who was glaring right back at her.

The thought of going on Small World was kind of unsettling, so I inched closer to Kyra and stared at her Splash Mountain shirt so she would get the message.

"Lucy and I will go to Splash Mountain," she said with confidence. I had no idea how she had it. I couldn't even put a coherent thought together, much less a sentence.

"Fine, then I guess we're going to the dumb scary kids ride?" Steph snapped. I was glad I didn't have to be with her then.

"I hope you're happy when the dolls _kill us_,"

Rapunzel squinted. "Why would we be happy? Come on,"

Then Merida came in.

"And another thing, they wouldn't kill ya! They're sweet once they stop singin'!"

Cinderella gave Merida a look™.

I couldn't really comprehend what I was getting into.

**So far, so good with updating! I saw the new Cinderella Castle, and I can't say I like it, but to each their own. I hope this chapter was enjoyable.**


	3. Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah

Splash Mountain was a lot less adorable when the music wasn't on and there were no animatronics, I decided. And where were they, anyway? I thought to myself. I didn't know then, but they were definitely there.

The log floated past the introductory scenes in the Briar Patch, and I shivered. Kyra grabbed onto my hand, and I smiled. She was sweet, even if she was a little weird— holding my hand and everything. I'd sooner realize she was one of the best friends I'd ever have.

"This is kinda scary," I quipped, trying to sound nonchalant, and failing miserably. I expected Kyra to say something back, but instead I heard another remark.

"'Course so! It's s'posed to be scary!" And in a Southern accent, too.

I looked up frantically, Kyra squeezing my fingers tighter instead of letting go.

"Quiet, rabbit, they can hear ya!"

What?

""That was the point! I was tryin' to sound scary, Br'er Fox,"

Br'er Fox? What was going on? I was terrified and confused.

Then Kyra's teal eyes lit up. "It's them!"

I squinted, feeling stupid. "Who?"

"Br'er Rabbit and Br'er Fox!"

"Uh, I'm, uh, stuck," a deep voice drawled from above.

She giggled. "And it sounds like Br'er Bear, too,"

"How are we sure?" Needless to say, I was skeptical. It all sounded too crazy to be true.

"The characters are real, why wouldn't the animatronics be real, too? They're characters too, if you think about it,"

I shrugged. Then everything fell into place.

I had seen the doll move on Small World because she was real.

Every moving kid in that ride was an actual kid.

Like Pinocchio, made of wires and stuff, but with the heart and mind of a real person.

I felt dizzy and like I just needed the log to stop moving, everything to stop moving for a minute...but life wasn't going to give me that.

"You're awful quiet, are you doin' anythin' down there?" came the first voice, which really did sound like Br'er Rabbit once I noticed. There was a hint of fear in his words.

Kyra held my hand so hard I was afraid she'd cut off my circulation. I saw her take a deep breath.

"Br'er Rabbit? I don't mean you any harm. My name is Kyra, and I'm here with my friend Lucy. We just want to help you— Cinderella told us there was some trouble going on here,"

Then down from the ceiling a lanky rabbit leaped onto a thicket branch, holding his red white-spotted bag on a stick like a weapon. A second later, Br'er Fox landed a thin thorn away from the flume, and Br'er Bear tumbled onto his back. They both fell and got drenched, water droplets showering me and Kyra. I laughed. It was so magical.

I looked ahead at the sound of rushing water to see we were coming up on the big drop.

Wait, we were coming up on the _big drop_.

I braced myself as best I could. I could barely wait to get back in the ride and see them again.

I thought it wouldn't be fun to get soaking wet on Splash Mountain in the middle of the night. But I knew I was wrong as I shivered with exhilaration in the Magic Kingdom, which had turned out to be more magical than I'd ever dreamed.

We bobbed back inside, where Br'er Rabbit, Fox, and Bear were waiting expectantly. I grinned like an idiot at their real faces and still couldn't believe it.

I was going to have to sprinkle the lap bar down with pixie dust and get used to the idea pretty fast.

As soon as he looked up and saw us, Br'er Rabbit bounded over to our log, still holding his bag.

"Excuse me, but that is a mighty nice shirt, ma'am," he pointed at Kyra's white T-shirt, which read "Plenty of Sunshine," in bold black.

She laughed. "Why, thank you, Br'er Rabbit. And excuse me, but you are _mighty _adorable,"

I nodded in agreement.

"Now, what's wrong?"

He swallowed thickly, and Br'er Fox suddenly stopped yelling at Br'er Bear.

"Well...uh...well...it started…"

Kyra smiled encouragingly. "It's okay. Lucy and I are just here to help. See this?" She held up her sparkling necklace. "This found me, and one found Lucy, too. We get to use these to help you, and everyone else here. We met with the princesses, and they mentioned there've been a few weird things going on here. We can help if you just tell us what's happening,"

He swallowed again. "Well, a little while ago, we all started feelin real sick— no, hurtin'. And we were in tip-top shape— just everybody got it, like a wave on us. Then it went away, but the lights went all funny. On an' off, on an' off. An' nobody was there playin' a trick or anythin'! It happens every couple a' days now! On an' off, on an' off! An' the wave...it happened a few times so far…. We all seen nothin' like this before, not in our Briar Patch...Not anywhere!"

I felt my face crease in a frown, and I definitely wasn't feeling happy anymore. I shivered in the cold, remembering I was soaked.

Then the lights flickered. On and off, on and off.

Br'er Rabbit shuddered, and I heard Br'er Fox snarl. Br'er Bear started moaning, "Oh, there it is again,"

When the bulbs went back to normal, Br'er Rabbit looked us straight in the eyes. "Third time this week," he whispered. "Ladies, I'm scared. Nothin' like this ever happened."

Kyra set her mouth in a determined line.

"Don't worry, Br'er Rabbit. We'll get down to the bottom of this, that's why we're here. In the meantime, do you want to come with us over to small world or stay here? We're going to meet a few of our friends,"

"They're like us— they help," I added. I was so tongue-tied and aggravated with myself for it.

"I-I wanna stay here, if it's alright with you. I'm gonna stay with my brothers and sisters right here in our Briar Patch, where we're born and bred in. No one's gonna get us outta here so fast. They might spook us with the lights an' things, but we're not leavin'." He puffed out his chest, and birds and frogs and geese all came out from behind scenery at his declaration. The whole thing was really awesome.

Kyra blew kisses and called everyone brave as we sailed away and back to the loading area. I didn't know what to say. She was amazing.

"That was..._so cool_," she whispered.

"I know, right? I mean, they're actually real, unless this is all just a dream,"

"But it's not. I just know, don't you?"

"Yeah," I breathed. There was no more denying it.

I was in major shock, to put it mildly.

We walked over to small world, and I felt— well, not scared, but kind of excited. Or not, I couldn't tell. Looking back, I think it was fear, exhaustion, and exhilaration mixed in with some adrenaline and excitement. I was going to go on small world, but not like I ever had.

**Hope you enjoyed! I had fun writing this chapter. Also, I can't believe Tangled's show's ending next week. It's so sad. And by the way, reviews are welcome, I'd love some feedback.**


	4. A World of Laughter

We climbed into a blue boat, and I wondered if it was the same one I'd been in when I saw the doll move earlier that day. It didn't feel like it was just that day this whole thing had started.

We floated through, and the dolls we're missing. It was like Splash Mountain— no music and no animatronics.

I looked at Kyra. She looked as creeped out as me.

"This is weird," I said, tapping my fingers nervously on the boat.

"Yeah,"

"Well, now that we know they're real, at least there's nothing to be

afraid of. They were like their characters at Splash Mountain, so then they should be pretty nice…"

"Yeah," Kyra said, but her hand was holding mine again.

I hummed the iconic song to fill the emptiness, and Kyra whistled along. Then we came to the last room all bathed in white.

And I saw something the average guest was definitely _not _supposed to see. I blinked to make sure I was actually seeing what was there.

I saw all the dolls from all the countries everywhere in the room, and in the center of them were Stephanie, Alex, and Marcia, looking really scared.

But the dolls weren't closing in on them or anything— they were just looking at them with childlike wonder. It made sense because they _were _kids.

Kyra and I climbed out of the boat and I walked up to the dark-haired girl I'd seen fixing her hair that morning.

"Hi," I knelt down and felt myself tuning into my inner Disney Princess. "I'm Lucy. Maybe you've heard— me and my friends are gonna help you all,"

"Yeah, so what's been going on?" Kyra was standing and talking to

them all.

Steph crossed her arms. "Make it fast so we can get out of here,"

I narrowed my eyes. They were sensitive and impressionable kids, she shouldn't have been talking to them like that.

The little girl took a deep breath and opened her mechanical mouth to tell us their story.

"It started only a little while ago— our lights were going out. And in the dark, only once, we all felt like we weren't a part of ourselves. We felt like— like we weren't here. We were in the dark and it was scary and cold and—" I was sure she would be crying if she could.

It sounded similar to what Br'er Rabbit said.

And then I was scared. What if there was such an evil that Disney was stuck in the dark place they were talking about forever?

I was still thinking about that as I folded up my wet, chilly clothes as quietly as I could away from my next day's outfit in my suitcase and slipped into pajamas later, after disembarking from the seven seas waterway. I couldn't let my parents see them.

Speaking of them, they weren't the happiest people on earth when they saw me. But they were understanding enough. I gave them the standard, "I won't do it again" that kids my age usually paid lip service with, and climbed into bed. I was too restless and shocked to do anything else.

I was itching to go back to Disneyland, but I knew the right time would come. Besides, if Mom and Dad saw me gone from the bed, I'd have a _huge _problem on my hands.

I'd have to get stealthy to keep them from knowing where I was.

I was terrified and ecstatic at the same time.

**Hope this was short but sweet, I'm just trying to wrap my head around Tangled's finale dropping in a few hours. **

**P.S.- Again, reviews would be greatly appreciated!**

**See you soon!**


	5. A Pirate's Life

I waded in the Beach Club pool, still processing the night before. I hadn't slept at all, but it still felt like an unbelievable dream.

I splashed the water, the crystalline wetness reminding me of how Splash Mountain had soaked me. I saw Br'er Rabbit's scared face, and then I knew that even though it was magically wonderful that all the characters were real and I literally had a necklace that I could use to go to whatever Disney park I wanted to, anytime I wanted to, there was something sinister brewing beneath the magic.

And after hearing what the princesses and Brer Rabbit and the kids in small world said, I was sure the Disney villains were behind it.

"What took you so long to get back last night, honey?" Mom was aggressively rubbing sunscreen onto her already slimy-looking legs.

"Um...I was hanging with that girl Kyra. She's really nice,"

It was the truth. Sort of.

"Oh. That's nice," Even though she was trying to sound casual, I could tell she was excited. Mom and Dad were always pushing me to try to "make friends." The people at school just weren't like me, and didn't like me. And I didn't like them either.

But maybe Kyra would be different, I thought. Maybe she could be a real best friend, like the kind I wanted when I was in second grade.

And I was right. Kyra would be _one _of my best friends.

Dad sat down at the edge of the pool with Mom and kissed her on the cheek. It didn't take long for Mom to pipe up with the line, "So, Lucy tells me she had a great time with that girl Kyra last night,"

Dad's eyebrows went just about all the way up into his hairline.

"Oh! Really?"

I rolled my eyes, which were brown like his. "Yeah, Dad, I met a nice kid. She probably doesn't live close, though. She's probably from, like...Jersey," It came to me then that I hadn't asked Kyra where she lived. I realized with a sinking feeling she probably _did _live somewhere far away and I wasn't going to see her again.

Unless she really wanted to give into the whole, "savior of the Disney parks" thing, and she used the necklace to meet with me and the others whenever we wanted to…

I shrugged absently. "Well, I'm gonna go to the deep end, okay? You two can hang out and have a nice romantic pool morning," I swam away as Mom slathered Dad's nose with sunscreen. How romantic.

I went to a deserted patch of the pool, and thought about the necklace. It was sitting in my jewelry pouch in the room. I could go to Tokyo Disneyland, Hong Kong, Paris—

Suddenly, I was jerked under the water. I thought someone was drowning me.

I got a butload of water up my nose and fun fact: breathing in chlorine instead of air doesn't work. I opened my eyes desperately, then choked on the bubbles.

Right in front of me looking frantic and putting a finger to her lips was the Little Mermaid herself.

Ariel.

With her tail.

In real life.

With me.

She let go of me and I came up for air. I gasped and coughed, and she bobbed up beside me.

"Sorry I did that, I just didn't know how else I wouldn't get you to make that much noise. I'm Ariel!" She twirled her red hair and bit her lip.

"I know," it was the only thing I could think of saying.

She waited a second, then asked me what my name was.

After we got formalities out of the way, Ariel looked around nervously before leaning in close and whispering, "There's trouble. I know you saw it on Splash Mountain last night, and small world too. But we need you and the other girls to go to Pirates. Cinderella and Snow White and Aurora say it's the last ride Walt worked on before he...you know, so we think the Villains would go for there first— to do whatever they're doing. I mean, it could only be them, right? So, anyway...do you think you can do that?"

I nodded. "Of course,"

I was going to have to get out of an Extra Magic Hours night at Hollywood Studios with my parents, but I would think of how to do that later.

"After closing. You and all the others. Okay?"

I nodded, and then she dipped under the ripples and in a minute, she had left, looking discreetly wrapped in a towel. She acted completely calm and yet stealthy, I guess so no one would look to see who she was.

I swam back to Mom and Dad, who were out and packing up our stuff.

"Lucy, you can dry off and go back up to the room and get dressed, 'kay? We'll meet you up there," Dad smiled at me, and I felt a pang of guilt for not telling him what was happening to me.

But if I did, he'd never believe it. Not even funny, sweet, supportive Dad. How could he, when I barely believed it myself?

I would get used to it. As much as you can get used to something like this.

I walked back to the room, my head spinning. It still felt like a shock, but then I realized what a responsibility it was going to be. Protecting the Disney Parks from who were obviously the Disney Villains...why me? Why not some other Disney-obsessed girl? There were so many people on the Earth, but me?

It's the best privilege, really.

I opened the door with my 30th anniversary magic band, which I noticed Ariel would probably appreciate, and looked on the bed next to my clothes I laid out.

Scrawled quickly in pink pen was the short message:

_Dear Lucy,_

_It's Kyra. I think we should make _

_a group text or something so we can _

_contact each other whenever we need. _

_Text me or call me when you get the chance. Bye!_

_P.S. I totally didn't sneak into MK _

_and get a CM uniform from Cinderella to get here! (I did)._

Underneath was her text and phone number.

I laughed, then grabbed my phone to text her. Phone calls made me uncomfortable. I ran my finger across the Cinderella Castle case as I sent,

_Hi it's Lucy. Ariel came to me while I was in the pool and she says we should all go to Pirates tonight so I guess they'll tell the other girls for us since we can't contact them unless we see them today. Who knows maybe they were going home and last night was their last one. Anyway I think texting is a great idea._

After I wrote, "_Yo Ho!" _Just for fun.

I still think that might've been too much.

She got me back saying she would

meet me at Pirates that night and she hoped the other girls would be there so we could get to know them better. That wasn't what I was looking forward to that night, but to each their own, right?

I spent the whole day waiting for the night. On Tower of Terror I screamed with the mixed up feelings I had for everything, and I took out those feelings on the Midway Mania targets. My mind wandered on Star Tours and Smuggler's Run, and even at Brown Derby lunch I couldn't remember what I'd ordered or what it tasted like when I got it because I was counting down the hours until I could leave for the last bus to Magic Kingdom.

As we walked out of the restaurant, I took a deep breath.

"Mom, Dad, is it okay if I go to the Grand? Kyra's staying there and I want to hang out with her,"

There was no way to twist that one. I'd lied to their faces. It definitely wouldn't be the last time I had to do that. In fact, It was only the first.

They smiled so wide they both looked like the Cheshire Cat. They smothered me with "Great, honey!"s and "You're growing up so fast!"s where I thought I would explode.

I kissed them on the cheek and left so fast I almost plowed right into a family with a bunch of little kids. I sprinted past them— well, as fast as I could sprint in the crowd.

I tapped my fingers and hummed "Yo Ho" in anticipation on the bus, and as soon as it let off I raced out and made my way to Pirates faster than I ever had. When I got there Kyra was looking for me, her straight honey-blond hair falling in her face streaked with water.

I ran up to her.

"I've been looking for you forever! I'm so glad you're here! I didn't want to miss you so I just waited and went on the ride twice and came back out to look for you," she was breathless, but she hadn't been running.

We watched Happily Ever After from a bench, and Kyra rested her hand on mine again. Her eyes shone with tears, and mine would've too, except I wasn't big on crying. I just didn't really do it often. But it didn't mean I wasn't exhilarated.

We waited for the last few people to filter out of the park, and then we climbed into a boat and started to sail through. It was unsettling, more than small world was because the Pirates pirates were...interesting characters. It was exciting but fear-inducing.

"I wonder where they are," Kyra mumbled as we came under the waterfall.

She wouldn't have to wonder long.

The first thing I noticed about the cave scene was that the skeletons were missing. That was sort of scary, but I guess I wouldn't have been really happy if they _were _there.

The first thing I noticed about the scene after was that Barbossa's ship looked somehow more scary in the quiet and without the cannons than with them and sound.

The second thing I realized was that it wasn't really quiet.

I heard the garbled singing of drunk dirty men, and then I was pretty terrified.

It didn't reach its full volume until we got to the auction scene, and as we moved deeper into the city of Tortuga, Kyra was laughing nervously and my hand should've looked blue from how hard she was holding it.

As soon as we came through, one guy shouted, "Ahoy, thar' be someones on that dinghy!"

Like I was supposed to know what that meant.

All of a sudden, every one of them started stumbling over to us, and I briefly wanted to know if their swords were real, too. Because _they _definitely were.

Kyra pulled me by the hand and stood up in the boat. I came to my senses and realized what she was doing.

I took a deep breath. I had control over the situation— or I could if I wanted to. Disney was my territory, however so. I could function in the environment, too— I wasn't breaking any rules (at least that the princesses, and not the company as a whole set) and I had almost as much of a can-do attitude as Kyra. Even though she was smart and nice, I couldn't let her overpower me.

"Let's jump," I said to her.

I leapt right before she did.

I was crazy elated when I splashed a little and stepped up onto the other side of the scene.

Kyra stood too, and I'm pretty sure we both gulped at the same time.

The sight of all the pirates advancing on us, sputtering with unfocused eyes was honestly a horrific image.

Especially when they were led by the cold, hard Auctioneer.

I loved the guy, but not when he was real.

At least not at first.

Obviously. Who would?

Just then, another boat passed by with Marcia, Alex, and a pissed-off Stephanie. Her cotton-candy hair practically glowed in the dim lighting. Why she was such a tough, typical dressed-all-in-black "bad girl" with bright pink hair, I didn't know.

But I would eventually.

All three of them looked like I felt at the sight, and I thought ironically it must've looked like it did to me and Kyra when we went through small world and saw them just the day before.

"Well, well, well...who have we here?" I was almost startled when he sounded like Paul Frees instead of the stereotypical pirate voice he'd had since the auction scene refurb.

I swallowed. I was scared, not just at a loss for words.

To my surprise, Stephanie spoke up.

"We're the kids, you idiot. The kids the "_princesses" _told you were coming tonight to help you with the weird stuff the bad guys are obviously up to, 'cause of a dumb prophecy we're part of or whatever,"

I was not expecting that.

He turned to her, and I was just happy he wasn't in my face.

"I hope your bark is worse than your bite, girl. Settle down,"

She scoffed, chewing her gum with more conviction.

"Don't tell me to settle down. I'm apparently supposed to be the answer to all your problems and I don't even want to be, so don't talk to me like that. I can walk out whenever I want, you know,"

"Come out of there so I can get a better look at ye,"

She rolled her dark blue eyes, but got out of the boat. Maria and Alex followed behind her, looking like they were captured. The looks on their faces were kind of funny in hindsight. At least compared to Stephanie's— or Steph, as she told us to call her— blatant confidence.

I wasn't as scared anymore. Steph was really sort of right— _we _were helping the pirates— without us, they had major problems. They couldn't really hurt us.

I didn't go into the day thinking I'd get a confidence boost from a "bad" kid. She honestly looked really shady, but looks aren't everything. I knew, having watched _Beauty and the Beast_.

She walked over to him, and even though he was taller than her, she didn't look intimidated.

"So? Am I qualified to save your butt?"

"We'll see about that, you brazen wench,"

"Don't call me that. That's not gonna work."

The pirates started to calm down, but Marcia still looked really uncomfortable. I guessed she didn't go for the dirty high seas aesthetic the ride had.

"So," Steph said, looking around.

"What's happening? Let me guess, you feel achy 'cause your so old and somebody messed with the lights a couple times,"

One guy nodded, but apparently they were too drunk to remember the whole story.

"It only was that at first, but now there've been blackouts,"

Steph stared at the Auctioneer like she wanted to roll her eyes again.

"So, like I said— somebody turned the lights on and off to prove Disney's ghost's here or whatever and you're all overreacting,"

"No." We all turned around.

I literally blanched.

The redhead.

The old redhead, not the new one.

She climbed down from the top of a building to come down to us. I wondered where she came from.

Steph's face squished in denial. "Who're you?"

She blinked a few times, and then looked really hurt and scared.

But she tried to regain whatever composure she had, and then some.

"I'm the Redhead. Only the most beautiful woman on the seven seas,"

Ol' Bill hiccuped from his little corner, petting his cat. "She used a' be 'ere— then them chickies came 'stead,"

I smiled and rolled my eyes. He was just as drunk as he was on the ride.

The redhead's eyes narrowed.

"It ain't the lights in a blackout. _You're in all darkness, and you _can't see, feel— anythin'. Then you come to, and you feel faded, forgotten— a shell of who you were,"

"Has this been happening to all of you?" Kyra asked. She looked as appalled as I felt. This was turning into something worse than we imagined, and fast.

"Just once," the Auctioneer said. "It was an awful thing,"

But out of the corner of my eye, I saw the Redhead swallow and close her sea-colored ones.

I knew there was more to the story.

**Whew! The Tangled finale hit me so hard! But I'm glad Rapunzel's story came to such a wonderful close. That being said, there won't be any less of her around here now that the show's over, I absolutely love her. Hope you liked it, see you next chapter!**


	6. The Girl Who Has Everything

**Spoilers ahead for Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure Season three. You've been warned, so read at your own risk!**

After spending the day at Epcot, I went to Cinderella Castle again, where she, some more princesses (a few, like Anna and Elsa, weren't official or were, you know, queens), and the other girls were already hanging out.

"So, you said you keep the bad guys in a magic jail. Can we see it?" Alex bounced onto the bed with all her strength, and I wanted to wince.

The princesses looked at each other uncomfortably.

"Well…" Snow White started. She clasped her pale hands together nervously.

"We'd rather not," Moana said. At least she was straightforward.

Alex pouted. "Why not? If we see it, we can try to figure out why they're getting stronger and why all the robots on the rides are getting all hurt and stuff,"

They looked like they were warming up to the idea a little bit, but I was scared. Go into the prison with all the vengeful Disney Villains inside? I'd rather play with the kids in small world again and enjoy my night. Or go to Disneyland. I smiled at the thought.

"Alright," Cinderella said after talking in a hushed voice with the other princesses.

"We'll let you go,"

Alex jumped up and cheered, throwing a fist in the air. Steph rolled her eyes from her chair where she was picking her nails, and Kyra looked worried like me. Marcia looked scared too, but I didn't think she was comfortable to begin with.

Elsa narrowed her eyes. "But not alone. No one goes in there alone,"

Alex looked at them. "Well, who are we going with?"

"Ooh, ooh, me!" Anna's hand shot up into the air, and Elsa had a mildly annoyed look on her face— but in a good-natured kind of way.

"Fine, Anna,"

"Great! Just let me change, I'll be _right _back,"

"Why do you need to change?" Elsa called after her sister as she ran out.

I tried to catch what she said— I thought it was, "I can't go on an adventure in my pajamas!"

Elsa massaged her forehead with a smile tugging at her lips as the rest of them tried to pick somebody else to go with us.

"I'll go," Jasmine said.

Then I saw Rapunzel take a deep breath.

"I'll come too,"

They all stared at her in shock.

Then they started asking her if she was sure she wanted to, and telling her she didn't have to go if she didn't want to— all stuff that left me wondering why it was such a big deal.

I'd be finding out that night.

Jasmine, Rapunzel, and Anna (wearing her purple outfit from the second movie with her hair half down) took us to a dark part of the castle far away from the Suite that looked really secret. We split a fireplace to reveal stairs like in "Sleeping Beauty" and walked up to a swirling portal. It was black with green highlights, and looked sickly and scary.

Jasmine climbed through first, then Anna, Kyra, and Alex. Steph walked in after, and I noticed Rapunzel was hanging back and taking shallow breaths. I stepped in because Marcia looked too terrified.

I was spinning through a dark tornado, and it was cold. I couldn't see, couldn't feel. And when I opened my eyes, I felt weak and not myself.

I scrambled to my feet and tried not to throw up. I swallowed and jogged to

catch up with the others.

I saw them after I turned into another dark hallway, walking through.

And then I saw them.

All the old and run-down twisting hallways with nameplates of every Disney

Villain from my childhood. Gaston, The Evil Queen, Cruella De Vil, Lady Tremaine….

And at the dead end up ahead was the Mistress of All Evil, Walt's most terrifying creation.

I assumed all their magical weapons were somewhere else.

I was right, but it didn't really matter to the Villains at that moment.

Anna strode down Hans' hall, a cool expression on her face.

Her voice echoed far. "Well, I see prison isn't a good look on you. Your sideburns are overgrown,"

He probably said something back just as biting, but I didn't hear because all I _could _hear was Marcia hyperventilating. She ran her fingers through her dark ponytail like crazy and then tugged on her skirt as she tried but couldn't control her breathing. I didn't really get why she was picked for our group; she was kinda stuffy and didn't want to interact with us.

I guess we all needed time to warm up to our new roles.

Then Rapunzel walked in, and all of a sudden Anna came back and she and Jasmine were all over her.

"We're right here next to you," Anna held her arm as Rapunzel

took another deep breath. I was getting really intrigued as to what the whole thing was about.

"Thanks, guys, but really I'm— I'm okay," She squared her petite

shoulders and set her mouth in a thin line. There was a terrified determination in her eyes. Something was scaring her, that much was obvious.

But why weren't Jasmine and Anna that upset?

"Let's go. You guys want to poke around? See anybody specific?"

Alex shrugged. "This is cool— hey wait, can we go meet Maleficent? She's supposed to be the evilest, right?"

"Yep," Anna said, leading the way.

We all followed, but Rapunzel lagged behind again.

I squinted over my shoulder.

I got scared myself as the tension built going down the dark hallway. I

wasn't really sure I wanted to meet Maleficent.

But whatever I thought wasn't going to stop Alex. We finally got there,

and I found myself ten feet away by Marcia— Kyra was actually pretty close to me, too— looking on at her awed face.

"Woah,"

Steph stood next to her, unimpressed. Go figure.

"Well, well, well— back for more, Princesses? And I see we have a few

more comrades this time. Children! I should have known only you would

think of something to that effect,"

"Maleficent—" Anna snarled. Jasmine pulled her back, but the same

anger was blazing in her eyes.

"And the thief's prize is here as well. Were my coworkers and I unclear

as to what we thought of you on the first occasion of our acquaintance?"

We turned back and Rapunzel got a clear view of Maleficent.

She swallowed, and I could've sworn I saw tears welling up in her eyes.

"Stop."

"Why should I? It was your decision to come here in the first place,"

She had an air of calm that Rapunzel didn't, but I couldn't blame her.

Even without Diablo or her staff, she was terrifying. And regal, although prison bars kept a full picture of her obstructed.

"I said, stop."

Rapunzel's hands were fists and a single tear slid down her cheek.

"I don't think I will. This is far too much fun,"

And before I knew it I heard her

bare feet slapping against the cold stone floor— and she was gone.

"You're evil," Anna hissed defiantly.

They grabbed Alex and Steph's hands, and we left.

Maleficent's voice carried and rang in my ears. "Come back soon— what a lovely conversation we had."

Within about a minute we were back in the center of the paths to take, right where we were. But things were different. I was thinking that and then there was a vibration.

"Lucy!" Kyra shouted. Jasmine pulled me back and I landed on my butt before anything could register. My heart was racing as the floor split to make a small canyon exactly where I'd been standing.

"Whew, that was close," I said, calming down a little bit.

"What's wrong with Goldilocks?" Steph shoved her hands in the pockets of her sweatshirt and sat in a pretzel on the craggy ledge. That got me wishing I'd brought a sweatshirt, too.

Jasmine and Anna collectively took a deep breath, so I sat down too (not there, of course)—I could tell when it was storytime.

"It was back in 2011," Jasmine started, "one day, they were supposed to go on a date—"

"Who?" Alex said, breaking the mood.

"Rapunzel and Eugene," Anna answered, surprisingly diplomatically. I guessed she was really good at that, given that her sister used to be a queen, and she currently was one.

"Who now?" Steph asked.

"Flynn Rider," she answered again. "Now, back to the story,"

Jasmine cleared her throat.

"Like I was saying, they were supposed to be on a date, but Eugene didn't get there. She waited, and then she got worried."

We searched all around the parks, every one. But we couldn't find him."

Anna chimed in.

"She was a mess. Wouldn't sleep, wouldn't eat...she tried to go after him more, but the worst part was that we didn't know where to look. She was obsessed, drawing plans and maps and looking in every book...ever to see if there was anything to find him by. Then one night, she ran in and said she had the answer, she said she found where he was. So we were supportive and we got together and we went down to _here_. It doesn't really make any sense, why he'd be down here. But he was, and we got him back. _But _he was hurt, and obviously it wasn't a good idea to just have him out and about where it happened. So Mickey stayed up all night and changed his schedule so he wouldn't be in the World anymore...not for regular meets, anyway...Did I tell it right?" Anna said, stopping her solemn tone of voice.

"Yes. Pretty much," Jasmine sighed.

"Now we all have schedules more random then we did before that. We never stayed in one park forever so we could get a taste of different places, but now where we are is mostly exclusive to making sure they can't track us. We don't know how they did it, but it happened with Jessie, who got reinstated to the World a little while ago...we're more careful now,"

There was an awkward silence.

A little later Rapunzel came back and was all smiles and sunshine— too happy even for her based on what just happened— and we went back. Alex pouted briefly and Steph didn't look at home when we saw light again. As light as it was in the middle of the night.

Well, the castle was brightly lit. And big. We said our goodbyes for the night and then...then I was lost. I'd been a dummy and snuck into Magic Kingdom instead of telling my necklace to take me there.

I made a mental note not to do that anymore.

"Are you sure you don't want me to lead you out? It's rather big in here— every once and a while I get lost; it's not as quaint as my castle, more grand," I snapped out of my thoughts to see Aurora smiling warmly at me.

My mouth went dry as I put on a smile of my own.

"No, that's fine— thanks though,"

"Alright. We'll have a good night," she graciously replied. She started to almost glide off and I saw her halo of gold hair from behind.

Then she turned around and looked me straight in the eye, the soft smile still on her face.

"Thank you, for doing this. It's about time the evil is stopped once and for all,"

I grinned back.

"Your welcome,"

After she left I walked through the hallway, trying to find my way out. I probably should've let Aurora take me. It was just that once my mouth opened in a social situation, especially one with a Disney Princess…

Then I heard something coming from behind a gilded and jewel-encrusted door. I backtracked to it and hovered outside.

"_I'm gonna be_

_The girl who has everything _

_Soon as he wears this ring_

_And swears that he's mine_

_True, we don't know what obstacles fate may bring_

_But why put off everything _

_When we can share everything _

'_Cause once he's my everything _

_Then everything will be fine"_

I looked through the crack in the door to see Rapunzel lying on a couch in what looked like a very royal break room with closed eyes. Her TV show was playing, and she pulled a velvet maroon blanket up around herself as a tiny smile crossed her face.

"And everything _is _fine," she mumbled. And then I guessed she drifted off to sleep.

I closed the door as quietly as I could.

Then I swallowed thickly. It was up to me to make sure everything _stayed _fine.


	7. Homes and Families

I didn't want to leave. But all good things must come to an end, as they say.

I hovered in the entranceway to Beach Club for a minute, taking in the cool air conditioning, and the patterns on the floor, and the general brisk hustle and bustle—-

I was going to miss this.

"Lucy, you coming, hon?"

It was Mom.

"Yeah, just— just a sec,"

I took one last breath of magical oxygen and then set out.

Before I knew it we were on the highway leaving the property.

Which of course was something that always made me upset. The moment lasted longer because of the massive traffic.

I slumped down in the backseat of my family's Toyota. One thing I was looking forward to though, was going to Disneyland. I wanted to go back so badly, ever since that night, seeing the castle….

So that's what I would be fantasizing about on the drive home.

I stared out the window and scrolled idly through some drawings I was working on on my phone. Art was a neat hobby for me, and most of my stuff was Disney fanart.

I was already going stir-crazy knowing that with my necklace, I didn't even have to leave. The pain I always got leaving Disney was dulled when I thought of how if I snuck past my parents I could instantly be at my happy place.

I realized we must've pulled to a stop at a red light, because I was thrusted back and felt a gust of wind blow down my throat and in my eyes and ears. Actually, it felt too severe for a red light.

Especially since it wasn't windy and I didn't have the window open.

That was because it wasn't a red light.

We slowly edged to drive out through the traffic, but I flailed in the back with a suffocation I never knew. The air was sucked from my lungs and I couldn't move. It was like in "Wreck it Ralph" when Vanellope couldn't leave Sugar Rush…

"Is everything okay back there, Luc?" Dad drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, which was getting blurry as the wind pushed harder.

I was frantic. My life flashed before my eyes, and feverishly I decided I had to do something.

The necklace.

As soon as the thought came to my mind, I ripped it off, sending a shiver through my whole body.

"Yeah, Dad. I'm fine. Just...sad we have to go,"

At least he bought it with a smile.

I was okay. I was fine. I gasped for air as quietly as I could.

Disneyland. I really wanted to go to Disneyland. With the necklace, I could be at Disney whenever I wanted.

I was glad to have Kyra's phone number and text, so if I wanted to talk to her—

Speaking of that, my phone dinged with a message from her just then.

"Is that an email from Kyra, honey?" Mom said as I opened my messages app.

"Yeah," I said absently as I scanned it.

_Hey Lucy. Just wanted to let you know I made a group chat for all of us. I joined you if that's ok. By the way you want to go to Disneyland tonight just you and me? _

How could she read my mind?

I resisted the urge to squeal.

_Sounds great I can't wait!_

We worked out that we would meet at her house at six for a sleepover since her parents were working late and her sister was out with friends. I was so happy I was surprised I didn't burst out of the seat. I told Mom and Dad while conveniently leaving out that Kyra's parents wouldn't be there. That might've been a potential problem when we got there, and I was guilty, but...

I. Was. Going. To. Disneyland!

A couple hours later we were in my driveway and home. My house was cheery and pretty big, with a pool out back that was probably scorching in the noon sun. I grabbed my pale blue canvas bag with big silvery zippers I'd loved since I got it two years ago for my thirteenth birthday. Then I pushed open the car door and headed up to my front stoop as my parents loaded some more stuff out.

I smiled to myself as the sound of barking reached my ears. From behind the chestnut wood door with intricate carvings I traced with my fingers when I was a kid was Rover. Yes, named after the Carousel of Progress and Pirates dog. But he was a pit bull.

"Rover, get down, buddy!" Dad yelped after opening the door and getting mildly attacked.

"Aww, he's just playing, Dad," I said, rubbing his dark brown fur. The

smell of dog overcame me. He had a strong scent, as usual.

Mom, being the OCD control freak she was, made sure to bring the suitcases upstairs as soon as humanly possible, leaving just my blue bag.

"Lucy, honey, you should bring that up to your room now so you don't forget," she said from the second floor of the house.

And there it was.

I grinned. "I'll get around to it, Mom," I called as she went into her and Dad's bedroom. I walked up the white-painted stairs anyway, Rover close behind.

With my free hand I opened the door to my room and smiled. It was good to be home, as much as I loved Disney.

And my room definitely reflected that. You could barely see the bright yellow walls because of the posters of Cinderella Castle, the Haunted Mansion, and Dole Whips and Mickey fudge bars. My favorite was the small world decal that looked like the advertisement for the ride when it was at the 1964 World's Fair.

I dropped my bag down on the magenta shag carpet and flopped down on my bed, my classic Mickey sheets rustling under my weight.

Yep, it was good to be home.

But it would be even better to be in Disneyland.

I started packing my stuff after eating a sandwich and sitting in agonizing boredom for about two minutes.

I walked over to my bag on the floor. I unzipped the middle and my necklace was lying right on top, so pretty and simple. The blue gem glittered on the chain that was around my neck when we left the Disney property.

I guessed that you just couldn't leave the property with it on.

I took it and gently slipped it over my head. It was just a normal necklace the other times I wore it, except for when Kyra and I showed up in Disneyland—

Instantly I was hit with a blast of sunshine. And chitchat, people talking. I opened my eyes and...and I was on Main Street. Cinderella Castle was right in front of me.

And I was drowning in the crowd of people who grunted and shoved into me. The air smelled like ice cream and popcorn and I was suddenly sweating in my hoodie I'd put on because the air conditioning in my house was so cold.

I walked around a little bit and peeked into the shops lining the early 20th century town, my mouth wide open. This was fantastic. I didn't have a ticket, and I was there, and it was my secret.

But then I remembered why that was so risky. I couldn't do anything that needed a MagicBand scanned, at least not by day, anyway, and what if my parents called me downstairs for something? What if they were looking for me right then?

I pulled the chain off and got whiplash from the cool air and lack of noise. Woah.

But why Disney World? I wasn't asking it to take me there, I just put it on. I made a mental note to ask the Princesses what that was all about.

Well, I still had to pack.

What would I even need? It would still be a sleepover after Kyra's parents got home, right? I'd take a toothbrush, my phone— pajamas? Which ones?

I was less prepared for this than I realized.

Later— well, specifically, four forty-seven— I walked down to see Mom and Dad snacking in the kitchen. Cool Ranch Doritos sat on the mahogany table, but I was too excited to eat.

"It's five, guys. Can we go?" I said, holding my blue bag I'd emptied and obsessively repacked for overnight. It had been a good way to kill time.

"It's four fourty-five, we'll leave soon," Dad replied through a mouthful of chips.

Mom took a handful from the bag. "But we're glad you're so excited,"

That wouldn't matter if we didn't _go_!

"Can we please just leave? Her house's kinda far," I pleaded. The strap of my bag I clutched for dear life was sweaty like my palms.

Dad winked. "We'll leave when we leave,"

"I'd rather you say 'We'll get there when we get there' and us be in the car," I grumbled.

"You're funny," Mom laughed, walking into the front hall.

She was grabbing the car keys!

At five fifty-two we were pulled up next to Kyra's nice green Spanish-style house and I was impossibly dizzy. I walked up to the pretty black door that had a window into a well-kept but lived-in home.

I rang the bell and waited a few seconds.

And then two people who looked suspiciously similar to legal guardians of my friend came into view of the window and opened the door.

"Hi, you must be Lucy," a tall woman with a honey-colored pixie cut and laughing amber eyes started and smiled at me.

"Um, yeah," I replied, looking at Kyra wedged between her and her dad, a stocky but not bad-looking guy with red hair combed to the side.

"Come inside," he broke the short silence and motioned me in.

"Thanks," Dad said.

Wait, Dad?

"Yes, thank you,"

Mom?

"Hi Lucy...and Lucy's parents," She looked from me to Mom and Dad, who must've followed me up the driveway.

It was going to be a long and Disneyland-deprived evening.

Kyra's dad cleared his throat as we stepped over the threshold into a nightmare of a night with my parents. "So, Mr. and Mrs…"

"O'Hara," they said in unison. Like evil minions.

"O'Hara. Would you like anything to drink?"

Her mom took us to the living room with pretty flowered wallpaper and the couch, which was draped with throws and covered in patchwork pillows. "Sit down, please,"

They basically sealed our fate by sitting. Kyra widened her eyes and signaled for help with them at me. I stared right back with the same expression. But there was nothing either of us could do.

"So, Kyra, Lucy tells us you're texting. Is that right?"

Dad. No. I wanted to facepalm more than I ever had.

She bounced on her sparkly red flip-flops. "Um, yes, that's right,"

"And I guess you like Disney?" Mom gestured to her Animal Kingdom sweatshirt and denim shorts with Mickey stitched on the side.

"Yes, that's also right," She grimaced and tried to hide it as a forced smile.

"About those drinks?" her mom brought up again, making things even more difficult.

Mom answered. "Two Cokes, please,"

Kyra sprang up. "Sure thing. Lucy, you wanna help me get them?" Her eyes got somehow even bigger and she tugged me by my blue small world hoodie into her airy kitchen.

"What's going on? I didn't think our plan for tonight involved your parents coming to Disneyland with us!" She hissed, opening her white minifridge, grabbing three Cokes, and aggressively prying one open.

She looked at me. "You want one?"

"No, thanks— I didn't think our plan for tonight involved _your _parents coming to Disneyland with us!"

She looked like she was going to chuck the minifridge out the wide window lining the other wall. "Well, I texted you they would be here, but you didn't answer! And why in the Disney World are your mom and dad here?"

I had to explain why my parents were such pains in the neck when it came to me having friends without sounding too pathetic. Great. "I—"

"Is everything okay in there, girls?" Kyra's mom called.

"Uh-huh, Just one minute," Kyra called back. She raised her eyebrows from over the can she was chugging.

"Good, we can't wait to talk to you, Kyra!" Mom yelled. I huffed and gave her a death stare she couldn't see from over the Dutch door. "Well, I assumed they'd just _drop me off_, I didn't think they'd come in and spend the night."

Kyra crossed her arms, which were long like her mom's. "How do we get them to leave?"

I snapped my fingers. "How far away do your parents work?"

She narrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "A little over an hour. Why?"

"You can just tell them the office called and they have to work tonight. Wait, do your parents work in an office?"

"Yeah,"

I sighed, watching them laugh at a joke Kyra's dad was telling. "But my parents…"

Kyra walked over to her metallic garbage can and threw out her Coke, making sure to crumple it up first like a true teenager. "How far away do you live?" she asked.

It was my turn to narrow my eyebrows. "An hour. Why?"

She shrugged and half-smiled, and after she answered me I thought she was Steph for a nanosecond. "Just tell them your house is on fire,"

Good, Kyra was distracting them. Good.

But the plan was not. Being guilty was hard to bear— especially this guilty.

I got my phone out of my bag and held it to my ear. "What? Really? I—I can't believe it,"

I put a worried look on my face, which wasn't that tough. "Oh, well, I'll tell my parents right away. Thank you,"

I pretended to hang up, then ran over to Mom and Dad and the overdecorated couch.

"Dad! Apparently you forgot to turn the stove off when you made dinner and it caught the house on fire!"

Okay, so maybe I wasn't good at making stuff up. And maybe I didn't

have a PHD in stove mechanics, and maybe Dad made dinner twenty minutes before we left. But—

"Oh, my gosh. We have to get home," Dad said. Mom already set her Coke down and was heading for the door. Kyra's parents were shocked.

Then their daughter came in.

Kyra went up to her parents. "Mom, Dad, the office called and they want you to work late again. You have to go now because they want everyone there as soon as possible!"

They were then surprised. "Oh, we'll get our stuff," her dad said as her mom opened the door. "Come on, George. Kids, set the alarm and if anything weird happens, call 911," she called as she left.

And they were gone.

Phase One was clear. I initiated Phase Two. "But you wouldn't want to take your child into a burning building, right? And Kyra and I were looking forward to our _first sleepover _and get-together. Please don't take it away from me to take me to our burning house. Please!"

It was desperate, and I was a bad actress. But they fell for it, because in thirty seconds I was standing next to Kyra in the foyer and we were watching them leave while frantically arguing.

"James, is Rover in there? You didn't forget to bring him inside?"

"I did, Melinda. He's fine in the yard, don't worry,"

"You're lucky doing the wrong thing worked out right this time, but this whole situation never would have happened if you hadn't left the stove on!"

The door slammed shut as my mom yelled at my dad.

Kyra and I high-fived. Having a friend was fun.

**Hi, everybody! Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed! I loved the feedback I got, and I'll definitely try to take it into account for coming chapters. I love this story a lot, and I want it to be its best. So, thanks, and if you want to give me more feedback, that would be great!**


	8. And Friends, Too

I ran to my blue bag for my necklace.

"I'll get mine," Kyra said and thundered up the stairs.

I twirled the chain and jewel around while I waited, reflecting the Mickey charm off the stained panel chandelier in the hallway.

"I'm back," Kyra announced, bobbing to a stop next to me.

"On three," I said. We locked eyes.

"One," she whispered.

"Two," I breathed.

"Three,"

I thought of Sleeping Beauty Castle, of the Matterhorn and small world facade, of Casey Jr. and New Orleans Square.

I opened my eyes.

It was sunny.

What?

Kyra's face looked the same as mine.

"Oh," she whispered. "Time difference,"

Ugh.

We were still on Main Street, though.

"So what?" I said. "We're still here, we can still have fun,"

She smiled. "Oh yeah,"

We poked around the shops, and I was relaxed. Being around her didn't feel uncomfortable or forced like it usually did when I tried to socialize with someone other than...well, my family. This was special. I knew it.

We walked up to a cart and got foot-long churros with money in my pocket, real Disneyland churros.

I bit in.

I giggled. "Oh, my gosh, it's so magical,"

Kyra took a huge mouthful and chewed.

"Tastes the same as last time,"

"You've been here before?" I asked, looking at the Partners statue.

"Yeah," she took another bite. "When I was twelve,"

"Awesome,"

"I'm guessing this is your first time here?"

"Yep," I answered. "My dad's scared of flying and my mom's claustrophobic,"

Neither of us knew what to say from there.

"Why don't we go to Fantasyland?" Kyra suggested. I followed her lead.

It was beautiful. So beautiful.

But if anyone found out we weren't legally there…

We passed the time eating and talking. We took quick trips to the other parks, glimpsing bits of magic around the world. Before we knew it it was late, and we were ready to have Disneyland to ourselves.

We popped back in to watch people clear out, lights illuminating the tops of every building and taking my breath away in its simplicity.

"So, was Disneyland just as fun when you went last time?" I asked as we sat on a bench near Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.

"Well, we were there legally," she replied, grinning. I grinned too. "Sshh, not too loud!" I put a finger to my lips in exaggeration.

"But seriously...it was the best. Oh, my Disney, I remember there was this one time my sister got a Mickey bar and she ate almost all of it and it fell- in a puddle! But then my dad saw and he got her another one and she kept waving it in my face to make me jealous. She was lucky it didn't fall again, and that I didn't eat it!" She laughed, no doubt picturing the memory.

"How old's your sister?" I said. She smiled fondly. "Eleven. She's starting middle school this year. She's super excited about doing soccer. That's actually what she's doing right now. Playing with her friends,"

Then I remembered our parents. "What do you think our parents are doing?"

She pursed her lips. "Oh...I don't know. They're probably worried sick about us, if my phone's any sort of indication," It buzzed again furiously in her pocket, like I'd felt mine all night. It was not going to be pretty coming back to reality.

"But let's not think about that right now. We have the whole night and the whole park to ourselves. You know what? You wanna go see a show?"

I took a deep calming, cleansing breath.

"Yeah,"

We giggled like crazy as we ran into Royal Theatre. The hugeness of the space was impressive— it looked so much more cramped on YouTube. Strangely, the lights were on— the stage was covered by the red curtain with yellow tips as it was closed down for the night.

But Kyra grabbed my hand and pulled me up onto it before I could say "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious."

We stood dangerously between the curtain and, well, the audience.

"Hey, you know the plays they put on here?" Kyra said, looking out at the empty seats.

"Oh, yeah," I said.

"I saw them here the times I went,"

That was..."Wow,"

She grinned. "The Tangled one's my favorite,"

I remembered it and smiled. My parents and I had binged the Frozen and Beauty and the Beast ones along with it when I was twelve. "Me too. 'It's a theatrical representation of your hair!'"

"And then at the end when Gothel's falling out the window and he says—'I'm melting?' Oh, that's the best,"

Then her phone buzzed. She put a hand to her pocket and grimaced. "Ugh, it's not gonna be fun once we leave here,"

I nodded and resisted the urge to stay quiet and let an awkward silence come, but then I took a mental deep breath.

"Do you know the song they sing at the beginning of the shows here?"

My mentally held breath was now baited, too.

"And at the end, too? Yeah, of course! By heart!"

I released it.

And started singing.

"I'm Mr. Smythe—"

Thankfully, I wasn't doing a solo.

"And I'm Mr. Jones,"

So this was what having friends was like. They were somebody you could laugh and be dorky with, but it wouldn't matter because when you were with them, the base level of their company was dorky, too. They were fun and not as stressful as they'd always been in my head. It would take some getting used to, but having friends— or a friend, at that moment— was fun.

"And how is each and everybody doing today? Welcome to the theatre, the famous Royal Theatre, and while we're in the theatre— I say let's do a play!" Kyra's phone was ringing, her parents calling. I tried not to focus on it.

I thought I heard something moving, but it must've been just me. "Using our imagination, as well as good annunciation! Together we will be creating a creation that will take your breath away…"

It was still there, but I couldn't care less. Kyra and I were dancing and singing together...like normal friends.

"For all the world is a stage, my friend— and take this hark if you've an ear to lend—we're gonna tell a tale with once upon a time at the start—"

"And there's a "happily ever after' at the end!"

But the thing was that neither of us said that. Or sang that. And it wasn't Kyra's ringtone, but it could've been with how much it was ringing since we walked into the theater.

I jumped back, letting go of Kyra's hand. I gasped at the same time she did, and we looked at the full stage behind us, where two medievally-dressed men, one in blue with a big red feather on his hat, and the other wearing olive green. The curtain was gone and the stage was set for the Tangled show— exactly what we were just talking about.

"I'm Mr. Smythe," the man in green said, jerking me out of my thoughts.

"And I'm Mr. Jones," chimed the one in blue.

"And who are you?"

That was both of them.

"We're—" Kyra started, but I guessed their minds worked faster than her mouth.

"Are you imposing us?" Mr. Jones asked.

"No, that would be imposterating us," said Mr. Smythe.

"Yes, why are you imposterating us?"

I resisted the urge to laugh.

It was really hard.

"We were just playing," I replied.

"Oh, a play!" Mr. Jones exclaimed.

"I say we do a play!" Mr. Smythe chirped from over his shoulder. The feather on his hat bobbed up and down, and he blew it back into place as it fell in his face.

"That sounds great," I giggled, and looked next to me to see what Kyra thought. But she was pulling her phone out of her shorts pocket.

"Mom and Dad're calling me like crazy the past few minutes. Sorry, can I just take this?"

"Of course, my lady," Mr. Smythe said. Mr. Jones shrugged to a nonexistent audience.

I waited anxiously as the guys chattered for Kyra to come back. I chewed my lip. Did this ruin the moment? Would it be weird when she came back and we tried to have that fun again? Would—

Kyra walked over to me like a zombie. Her face was white and her eyes looked close to the size of Mr. Jones' dark shoulder accents.

"My—my little sister," she stammered, and I felt all the color drain from my face, too.

"She's going to the hospital...she fell on the field at the park..."

And just like that, she was gone and I was left empty and friendless.

"We really only need one other person to do a play," Mr. Smythe told me. But I barely heard him.

I emotionlessly stepped up to the front door of my house and knocked on the door. I knew what was coming, and my cadaverous pallor betrayed an aura of foreboding as Rover barked and footsteps came closer.

Mom whipped it open and stared at me for a second, Dad right behind her and Rover jumping next to him. What did my English teacher say it was called? Juxtaposition? Well, he was definitely contrasting with the rest of the scene.

Then that quiet "calm before the storm" second was over.

"Where on _Earth _were you?" Mom yelled, and I jumped back. Somehow I was startled even though I was expecting it.

"I—" I started, but obviously they didn't want to hear me.

"Are you hurt, were you safe?" Dad asked, looking me over, up and down, really fast.

"I'm fine," I whispered. "I wasn't kidnapped or anything,"

"Then what were you doing?" Mom's voice echoed in my ears.

"I was—"

This was the moment. It was the moment I realized that this whole thing was already spiraling out of control. This was too far, but it didn't look like there was anything I could do to stop the downward race and constant collision between me and my parents.

I closed my eyes. "I was out with Kyra,"

Mom rolled hers and scoffed. "So that explains why you lied to us that the oven set the house on fire,"

Dad's jaw made an angry line. "I'm guessing Kyra's parents didn't have to work, either,"

"No, they didn't," I answered. I never noticed how many little textured pebbles made up my front walkway.

"And what were you doing after you pulled that on us? We went back to her house but neither of you were there,"

Mom was seething. "Now we have to tell the police to call off the search."

I snapped up. This conversation was surreal.

"I—It isn't Kyra's fault," I said. I was sure the next thing out of her mouth would be an order never to see or contact Kyra again. "I had the idea and convinced her to go around town with me. She didn't want to,"

They both looked appalled. "That's not like you at all, Lucy!" Dad said. "Wha—what's gotten into you?"

I heard rain start pouring down around me, but I didn't feel the humid night air. Come to think of it, I couldn't feel anything then.

Looking back, tears were slipping down my cheeks with the rain. "I don't know," I whispered. "I'm sorry,"

I was defeated.

My magical privilege was already taking its toll. And it was tearing me and my family apart.

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! **


	9. Not-So-Scary

**Hi, everybody! I know it's been a little while, but I'm still here!**

I was grounded for two weeks. The first time I'd ever been grounded.

The only thing that had kept me from insanity was my necklace. A few

quick trips to Disneyland and the other parks when I knew my parents weren't watching me.

But they were, most of the time. They had their eyes glued to me to make sure I didn't do anything weird, and it was excruciating. I absolutely hated that things were tense with them.

After my two weeks were up, the rest of the summer was surprisingly boring. It was like everything with the Princesses and saving the characters came to a screeching halt, and I didn't really know why. I mean, sure, it was hard to find time to go to the parks, but that issue wouldn't go away.

I heard almost nothing from Kyra. I texted her a couple times and we made some conversation, but she was subdued and always quick to leave. To be honest, I was starting to get angry. I mean, I got it that her sister was hurt, but she didn't want to talk about it and she definitely didn't want to talk about Disney. We just made small talk and she dodged away from anything of substance.

Before I knew it, the summer was pretty much over, and it was late in August. And I had the perfect opportunity to patch things up with my parents and to have one last hurrah for the summer that changed my life before school starting...the Halloween party.

I'd been working on my costume for a few weeks— I was going as Ariel in her "Kiss the Girl" dress from the movie. I twirled around in front of the hallway mirror, watching the blue skirt rise up and follow me. This would be a magical night, I just knew it.

Mom and Dad walked to the car with me, and I could tell they were trying to act like everything was fine between us. Or maybe it was just me. They were going as King Triton and Ariel's mom from the direct-to-video sequel, respectively. I was really excited.

Once we were in the park I grinned and breathed in the smell of candy. I closed my eyes and took it all in—

And knocked right into somebody.

I jumped back and hiccuped. Then I did a double take.

It was Kyra. She was dressed up like Br'er Rabbit in a pink button-down shirt with blue shirts and a red-and-white spotted bag tied to some wood she was putting her candy in after she picked it up off the ground.

"Hi," I said cheerily. I smiled.

"Hi," she smiled wanly back.

We walked around for a little bit, and after exchanging multiple frantic looks with each other, Mom and Dad left to go enjoy some alone time together while I hung out with Kyra. I convinced them I wouldn't do anything they wouldn't like, and they threatened me with another grounding right in front of her. I guess I deserved it.

I looked around nervously, scanning for anything to talk about.

She found one before me.

"Hey," she said, pointing ahead. "There's Alex,"

Sure enough, Alex was there, two lollipop sticks jutting out of her mouth. She wore a goofy smile and was playing patty-cake with a little boy about three or four. I assumed he was her brother.

"Alex, hi," I made our presence known as I walked up to her. Her eyes widened and I thought she was going to blow our secret then and there.

Luckily she didn't. "Hi, Lucy," she drawled, making every letter sound long. She was making the biggest deal out of a greeting.

Her dad turned around. "Oh, so this is Lucy. It's great to meet you, honey. I'm Alex's dad,"

"Hi," Kyra said.

"And you are..."

"That's Kyra, Dad," Alex told him. "Hey, Dad, can we go..."

He laughed. "Sure, sure, Alex, just call me when you're ready to leave,"

As we walked away, I heard him say, "David and I'll just have to have the best time ever, right, buddy? You want another cookie?" It was followed by little giggles.

"So, where're we going? What're we gonna do?" She asked. We were walking towards Liberty Square.

"Um…" I started, but ended up trailing off. Why did this feel so disjointed and just...weird? I wasn't this uncomfortable around them before.

"Yeah, Mom, whatever," I heard a familiar voice drawl from behind. We turned around, and there was Steph, slouching next to a tall woman who almost looked like she stepped out of the fifties.

Alex walked right up to her. "Steph! Hi! Wanna hang with us?"

The woman, her mom, looked surprised. Her heavily made-up eyes widened. "Are these your friends, Stephanie?"

She shrugged, giving us the look of death. "Yeah, I know them,"

"Then why don't you go with them? Socialize,"

She crossed her arms and took a couple steps over. "Sure. Call you later."

Now the only one we were missing was Marcia, who never contributed much to our conversations anyway.

We walked and walked, the people and sounds of music and candy wrappers drowning out the quiet of not saying anything. I looked up from the cobblestone ground and suddenly, the Haunted Mansion was there.

"Hey, guys, why don't we go on and ride?" I suggested. The air conditioning would be welcome, along with the distraction from dead air.

"Yay!" Kyra cheered, and I smiled at her. But why didn't she talk to me all summer?

"So, it's like a haunted house?" Alex said. Oh, sweet summer child.

"Ugh, those things are so babyish," Steph groaned. She looked at Alex, who was sucking on the last of her lollipops at once while standing over the trash can before dropping them in.

I glanced up at the board. We didn't have a FastPass, so the wait would be long. But maybe we would take that as an opportunity to finally talk. We were all just probably too hot and tired and surgared up, the air conditioning would be good— I told myself this more than once. The air conditioning would be good.

We got inside, and I was right. The cool air felt great. The skirts of my dress were sweaty, so the chill was perfect.

"Oh! This is great, it's _way _too hot out there," Alex breathed, fanning herself with her hand.

"You do know you're wearing black, right? It absorbs the most heat, so you're more overheated," a scholarly tone lectured. I snapped up. Well, at least we were all there. Marcia, of course, wasn't dressed up as anyone. Neither was Steph. Meanwhile, I was Ariel, Kyra was Br'er Rabbit, and Alex was in black because she was Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Or at least I assumed, with her black shirt and turquoise shorts. And her cheap bunny ears headband that honestly didn't hold a candle to Kyra's. Alex's did blend in with her black hair, though.

"Marcia, where are you, come here!" She practically groaned when her mom and dad called her back over.

"Dad, Mom, can we please just leave? These kinds of experiences are commercial, terrifying, and frankly, offensive!"

Steph smiled, probably the first time I'd seen her do it. "Why're they offensive?"

She narrowed her dark eyes. "They're offensive to disabled people! The zombies, monsters with missing limbs? Also, the depictions of life after death are frightening and earth-shattering to children, and even adults!"

I tried not to laugh. "This isn't really a scary ride, Marcia. Actually, when it was being planned, two designers with really different tastes, Claude Coates and Mark Davis were assigned to work on it. Claude wanted the whole ride to be scary and a traditional 'haunted house,' while Marc wanted a classic Disney, fun ride that wasn't scary. Eventually they decided the first half would build suspense and be scary, while the second half would be fun and have some signature Disney humor," Once you got me started, there was no stopping my Disney history rambling.

"See? The first _half _is generic and horrifying," Marcia practically shrieked. Her parents looked at each other.

"Marcia, sweetheart, this can give you an idea of how commercial, mass amusement parks are!" her mom said. I felt myself getting hot again when she said "amusement park."

"Oh, oh, we're moving!" Kyra yelped. We both could hardly contain ourselves as we ran in.

"Make sure to be dead center, everybody!" I squealed.

Steph rolled her blue eyes. "Really?"

A second later the Ghost Host reaffirmed me, making Steph look at me like I was clinically insane.

Then the preshow started, and I loved every bit of it. Marcia look like she might've fainted right there by the time it got to, "which offers you this chilling challenge...to find a way out!"

Alex waited eagerly for something to happen after. I stared at her to see her reaction.

"Of course...there's always— _my way_,"

The screams and lightning and corpse made Marcia yell and look a little like a ghost herself.

In the end, Marcia's parents forced her into a doom buggy with Alex while they went on together. I made sure to sit with Kyra in the next one before she had a chance to do anything else, and Steph begrudgingly sat with a stranger in the buggy behind us so she wouldn't have to stand up.

The ride was great, but I couldn't enjoy it as much as I wanted to with the awkwardness between Kyra and me.

"Why didn't you talk to me all summer?" I whispered once we got to the staircase scene exclusive to the World.

"My sister got really hurt, okay! Broken leg, and apparently she had a hip issue she didn't tell us about," she hissed. I'd never seen her that way. So mean and...hostile.

"That's no reason you couldn't have reached out to me!" I said. How could she be so self-centered? Okay, that might not have been the best phrasing, but still, that's what I thought.

"Yes, it is! I don't have to talk to you all the time just because we're friends."

At least we were still friends, I thought.

After the (agonizing) ride was over, we walked outside to the exterior part of the mansion looming over us. I examined the faded metal sign with the attraction's name on it so I wouldn't have to look at Kyra.

"That was so idiotic!" Marcia spat, crossing her arms and turning up her nose.

"How could you think that?" Kyra screeched, tearing me out of my thoughts.

"It's up there with Pirates as one of the most legendary fears of Imagineering of all time!"

At least we could agree there.

Steph narrowed her eyes. "Ooh, dirty robots that tried to murder us, what a techy masterpiece!" She gave jazz hands for added effect.

"We don't know they would've murdered us," I said. "And, Marcia, what didn't you like about it?"

"It's your run-of-the-mill haunted house without anything that separates itself as being specific to Disney. I could go to a carnival and find almost the exact same experience," she ranted, her "talking excessively" switch flipped on. Fine, fine, I told myself before saying anything too harsh, or actually exploding— everyone was entitled to their own opinion, even though hers was wrong.

"The Haunted Mansion has specific Disney charm that regular haunted houses don't have. The second half wasn't supposed to scare you, you were supposed to give in to the Disney silliness and fun side of the ride and loosen up. Besides, does a carnival haunted house have the technology for the high quality illusions the Mansion has? I mean, they used Pepper's Ghost _so _well, and—"

Marcia took another breath for ammo to attack me. "Yes, but the average consumer doesn't notice that. They don't think about how the effects work. They just take the experience at face value. And maybe if the ride had some well-known Disney characters in it, it could better associate itself with the Disney name—"

"_Stop _right there. Original Disney rides just show what Disney can do to make new properties instead of using established ones,". I gritted my teeth and felt slightly sick. So, she was one of _those people._ She would probably like it better in Disneyland, where freaking Cinderella was in small world!

"Guys, stop fighting!" Alex yelled, jolting us to stare at her. "Look at this, is this supposed to happen, what's going on?"

We all came around her, and I'll start by saying, it wasn't supposed to happen.

On the brick wall by the sign, something was etching itself into the cement. Words, writing themselves. For some reason I doubted it was a new effect for the queue.

_Perhaps our phantoms are not illusions._

"What does that mean?" Kyra asked. No one answered. At least, none of us did.

_We do not appreciate being compared to carnival tricks._

Marcia turned green.

_There is an urgent matter you five must attend to for us. _

_Signed,_

_Your sincere Ghost Host._

"Something's wrong with the Mansion!" I gasped.

We all looked at each other in shock, and just like that, the adventure started again.

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! While I do love HM, I'm not a huge nerd for it like I know other people are, so just keep that in mind for the next chapter.**


	10. Puzzle Pieces

"We have to go in," Kyra said. She looked at me and set her mouth in a line.

I started to get nervous. "But when? My parents are gonna kill me if—"

"This is more important," Alex interrupted. She was stepping it up.

"But she does have a point, we can't just not come back without warning," Marcia cut in with a perfunctory tone in her voice.

"And we can't go when people are still coming in. We were just on, nothing weird happened anyway," Steph said. That was the first time she showed any interest—or really, anything besides disgust—for what we did. And we all let her know we realized by staring at her and saying nothing for about thirty seconds.

That aside, though, she had a point too.

We decided to wait until after closing to zap out of our hotels (or in my and Kyra's cases, our houses) and meet up at the Mansion. Then we would go through like we did on small world, Pirates, and Splash Mountain, and see what happened. It obviously wasn't ideal, and I absolutely _couldn't get caught_, but there was no other choice. Besides, I was kind of excited to see what the nine hundred ninety-nine happy haunts were like behind the show scenes.

It was an hour past the kiss goodnight when I stopped pacing around my room and I knew I had to leave. There was a pillow tucked under my blanket that I hoped was shaped like me enough to fool Mom and Dad if they opened the door to my bedroom.

I slipped my necklace over my head and wished I was in the Magic Kingdom.

Then I was looking up at the castle. No time to stare, though. I took off at a jog to Liberty Square. It was fun to just _be _in Disney, saving Disney.

I got to the Mansion and Kyra and Marcia were waiting. Marcia looked over her shoulder at the estate five times in the two minutes it took me to get to them.

"Hi," I breathed. My heart was already thudding in my chest.

"Hey," Kyra replied. Marcia just gave me a curt nod.

I hummed "Grim Grinning Ghosts" while we waited for Steph and Alex. I needed something to do so I could avoid getting in another argument with Kyra or Marcia.

"I hope they're not mad at me for what I said," Marcia moaned, cutting me off in the middle of the song.

"So you take it back?" I asked. I wanted to know if she'd finally swapped her wrong view for the right one.

"No," she whispered. "I just don't want them to curse me or something,"

"It's like with the pirate guys, they can't do anything to us 'cause we have to help them," Steph deadpanned as she showed up behind us. Marcia shrieked.

"You scared me!"

"Good. It'll get you in the right mood," Steph laughed.

I let out a long breath. "So we're just waiting on Alex?"

The others nodded and "yeah"ed in agreement.

We stood in silence, impatient for Alex to show up. At least, I was.

"This is so nerve-wracking," Marcia repeated over and over again to herself. She sounded like a nutcase.

"It's fine, they're not supposed to be scary," I said. I asked myself when she would drop that and just appreciate the Mansion.

"Well, then I want to see the magical, fun, fresh and high-quality ride you went on," she bit back. I ground my teeth.

"You—" I started, but just then I heard panting behind me.

"I'm here, I'm here, don't start without me!" Alex sprinted up the way toward us. She almost slammed into Marcia and was breathing hard on me.

"So, can we go in?" She asked. We collectively looked up at the imposing house.

"Guess it's time," Kyra replied.

We walked up together with baited breath. As we passed the front walkway's busts, I thought I heard them whispering, but maybe I was just jittery.

We opened the doors and tiptoed into the hallway before the stretching room. So far there was nothing.

"Wow, so quiet," Alex marveled.

"Spooky," Kyra concurred. Steph rolled her eyes.

The portrait of Master Gracey on the mantle still transformed from guy to skeleton, and the lights were on. But besides that, silence.

We stepped into the stretching room, or then, just the room. It was normally proportioned.

"Wow! It's so empty in here you can see the walls!" Alex yelled, running over and spreading her hands over the striped wallpaper.

"So, what do we do?" I asked the dead air. Everything was quiet.

Until, like on the other rides, it wasn't.

"If I were you, I'd try getting my dirty fingers off the wall, thank you," We all jumped and saw the woman standing on a tightrope in the painting talking to us. Mouth moving. Words coming out.

"And don't be so noisy, this is our only time to ourselves," said the one holding a rose which we knew was perched on "Dear Beloved George."

"Okay," Marcia squeaked. "I'm just gonna...go now," She started edging away towards where we came in.

"Not so quickly," another voice boomed from all around the room. "If you will remember, this chamber has no windows,"

Marcia almost spasmed at a clap of thunder.

"And no doors,"

The two we entered through slammed shut.

She gulped.

Kyra planted her feet firmly on the floor.

"But we don't want to find a way out, sir, we want to figure out whatever's going on here,"

"Nothing us supernaturals should find unsettling," the man in the painting who was crossing his arms drawled. As I looked closer I realized two more were slowly coming into view under him. The Ghost Host was stretching the room.

"Of course, it is," the second one continued.

"And we do— find it a bit unsettling, that is," the third one finished.

Steph groaned. "We're not getting anywhere! Let me guess, lights flashing, darkness and aches and pains or whatever? You guys need some serious seizure and arthritis meds, not us!"

"I'm deadfully sorry, but that's not all that's started happening here, young lady," said the guy on a dynamite drum.

"Well then what is it?" She asked.

Just then, the sound of lightning cracked and for a second I almost thought we were just seeing the Ghost Host's body hanging from the ceiling. But the screams were lacking and instead of a dead body there was darkness. But at the same time I was sure the lights weren't just out. The ground changed from the smooth texture to craggy and uneven stone. And even though it was ice cold, I couldn't see my breath.

By the time I took in the vaguest of my surroundings, though, it was gone and the room was normal. Well, as normal as a stretched room with creepy paintings and a chilling Paul Frees voiceover could be.

"Wha-what was that?" Alex said, gaping.

"We aren't sure!" The portraits chorused.

"That is our matter of sorts," the Ghost Host told us.

"Huh," Steph paced. "Great, now we have to figure out what on Earth that was?"

The Ghost Host laughed darkly, his voice bouncing and echoing all around us. "It might be difficult for you to apply science of this Earth to this situation,"

We stayed in the stretching room for a few more minutes, getting absolutely nowhere mystery-wise. It was honestly starting to feel like we were in DuckTales or something. I guessed kids who didn't think like me would compare it to something else— Scooby-Doo, maybe.

After we'd all scratched our heads until they were sore and rubbed our chins with our thumbs so much we couldn't feel them anymore— or, overthought, you know what I mean— Marcia, I thought weirdly enough, popped up with the greatest idea.

"Why don't we just go through the rest of the attraction so we can absorb more information and maybe find the answer to that flashing thing that just happened,"

We all agreed, nodding.

The Ghost Host led us to the Doom Buggies and we got in, but since there were five of us and each car only sat two, someone had to be alone. Marcia made sure it wasn't her, running at breakneck speed to sit next to Alex in the buggy behind Kyra and me. I still wanted to sit by her. I thought maybe we could even work our problem out.

"I wonder what that place was," Kyra whispered as we passed the endless hallway and its undead suits of armor.

"Me too," I said. _Keep the conversation light, _I told myself. _Don't let things get too heated yet._

I would try to keep it neutral for as long as I could.

"It's weird to think that even rides like this are affected by something so dark and terrible," she mused. I nodded.

We moved past the library and the staircases and everything still seemed normal. It was like the calm before a storm. I knew we were all scared, and the feeling only got worse as we kept going through the scenes without anything happening.

Kyra and I both winced in the corridor of doors when the poor guy in the coffin still yelled "Let me out of here!"

Then the Ghost Host decided to reappear— or, talk again. "I am surprised you don't enjoy it there, you've resided inside for such a while,"

I could sense Kyra glaring. That was kind of cruel of him.

We floated across the darkness to Madame Leota's room, and I was kind of excited.

"Good eve to all who save rather than sleep," she said, staring into my soul. It was chilling, and somehow I smiled. In the dark room she was so bright, her face illuminated in ghostly light. It was so...her, to not even address us or talk directly to us, but say a— what was it called? Rhyme? Spell? Was she a fortune teller? Whatever.

"Spirits, bring luck to those five in their quest to defeat,"

We both had our eyes glued to her and grinned. Madame Leota, basically giving us a thank-you speech! So cool.

As she rotated out of sight Kyra and I looked at each other. We smiled, and even though things between us weren't better, we still were friends.

Up from the ballroom we went, and before any of us had enough time to take it in we were surrounded by the creepiness and the demented paintings of the attic.

"Here comes the bride," Constance Hatchaway cooed, holding her axe like a bouquet of wedding flowers. She cast an eerie light over the whole room and sent shivers up my spine.

Then suddenly the buggy stopped, slamming us back into the plastic. The slightest whooshing sound reached my ears, and five screams did too. One was mine, and one (Marcia, no doubt in my mind) screeched, "I'm too intelligent to die so young!" Constance readied her hatchet and held it up in the most downright terrifying position: preparing to strike. I saw my whole life flash before my eyes…

"Now, now, Constance, play nicely," the Ghost Host chuckled. We collectively let out a breath we forgot we were holding.

"Ugh, you never let me kill them," She muttered under her breath (or not, since she wasn't alive) and sank down onto the ground, propping her head up with her hand and swinging her weapon from side to side.

She really was a psychopath.

"But I suppose it's for the best. I like men better, anyway. You understand, don't you, girls?" She asked, suddenly sunny and chatty. It was like we were sharing secrets at a slumber party— or, at least, what I imagined a slumber party was like.

"Umm…" I said. I looked around at the other buggies. Kyra and Alex looked just as disturbed, Marcia was almost passed out and kept opening and closing her mouth like a fish out of water, and Steph was a cross of annoyed and mildly amused.

"Yeah, guys are idiots," Steph breathed idly, cleaning her fingernails. Way to go. At least she seemed to like being there, even if it was just to provoke the bride.

Constance's brightly glowing eyes widened and sparkled. A sly and wicked smile spread on her face. "Oh, yes. Men are slimy and you can twist them around your little finger with one flirtatious remark. You can twist them around some rope just as well, but I enjoy a good _swipe_," she hacked at a section of the wall and the room shook a little.

Then the vehicles started gliding along again, and, thankfully, Constance moved farther and farther away. The noise of her cutting into the wall and yelling the names of all her dead husbands over and over again rang in my ears, though, and were only drowned out as Kyra and I were propelled into the graveyard.

The ironically lively music swelled around us while the raven's red eyes shone through the atmosphere. It cawed at Marcia, and she yelped.

"I've had it!" Her voice almost broke. "This is terrifying! I want out! I want to get off! Please!"

The whole scene died down and instantly stopped. "But my dear, you haven't finished the tour yet," the Ghost Host talked down to her.

The Mellomen went back to singing and she put her head in her hands and plugged her ears.

Kyra's eyebrows furrowed. "Nothing's happened so far. To quote Star Wars, I've got a bad feeling about this,"

Like it was on cue, the party flickered to an even darker place. It was freezing. And the first thing I felt was landing hard on the ground in the chilly air as the Doom Buggy disappeared under us.

"Ow!" Alex pierced the quiet. I started to get up, grinding my teeth at the pain. The ground was hard and stony.

"What the heck," Steph got to her feet, cursing all the way.

Marcia whispered. "Where are we?"

"It feels like we've been here before," Kyra muttered, pacing on the ground. Her honey blonde hair was about the only part of her I could see, and it swished back and forth with every step she took.

"But— wait!" She stopped walking and snapped her fingers. It echoed as far as I could see, and farther, since it was pitch-black all around. "The Villain prison!"

And then it hit me. The cold, the dark, the empty feeling in the pit of my stomach. She was right. And it was obvious. All of this had something to do with the Villains. And apparently their prison.

Marcia audibly shuddered. "This is scary. It's like we have another puzzle piece, but so far we only have the corners,"

I blinked, and when I opened my eyes, I plopped back into the buggy seat, wincing and gasping.

"That is what we see a window into. A darkness none even here can comprehend," The Ghost Host lamented. "It must be stopped. I feel it in the wail of our winds, we are all at stake,"

I shivered, even though it was warm again.

"And not just our vampires, mind you," he added. I smiled weakly.

Another corner piece of the puzzle. And with it I felt more determined to figure out the rest of the picture.

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Like I said in the last author's note, I love Haunted Mansion, but I'm not that familiar with its lore, so I hope I did it justice.**


	11. High School Musical: Just High School

I was in Disneyland. Running around, smelling the fresh and sweet air. Small world's facade peeked up from over the trees and its clock smiled at me. I heard the band playing on Main Street. It was the Happiest Dream on Earth.

And then my alarm clock went off. Too soon.

Then again, if it went off at all it would've been too soon.

School.

My sophomore year of high school, to be exact.

I peeled myself off my mattress and told myself I could get up so early if Cinderella could. Birds chirped outside my window that reminded me of her.

I trudged downstairs and slid a waffle in the toaster. Ugh. The bus came forty minutes from then.

I took the plastic container of grape jam from the fridge and spread it pretty thickly on the waffle to give myself a sugar rush. It was unlawful to be up so early. The sun wasn't even awake yet.

Mom said she would be up to see me before I left— being an accountant she didn't have to wake up until later. Dad works at a restaurant, so he came down early‒‒because the drive there was long and it opened early in the day‒‒as I was going back upstairs to get dressed.

"Hi, sweetie. Have a great first day!" He whispered. I grinned. "Thanks, Dad,"

I flipped on the light in my room and put on what I'd laid out the night before: a Magic Kingdom tee with denim shorts, my favorite brown sandals, and a magenta anklet around my right leg. I wore mismatching earrings, one silver and one gold, and put a few tiny beads in my short brown hair. Some bracelets, and I was ready to go!

Or was I? My necklace sat in my rainbow jewelry box, glimmering and inviting me to put it on. But it was so risky. What if I accidentally set it off and I disappeared to a park? No, I decided it was better to wait until I brought it to one of the princesses and they made it more stable.

I walked out and before I knew it, Mom was kissing me on the cheek and wishing me the best day. I smiled and then walked to the bus stop, playing some High School Musical songs on my phone to get me in the mood. Not that I was ever in the mood for school. What kid was?

I tapped my foot on the pavement and waited for the bus in the muggy air. Boy, was it humid that day.

A few minutes later, the bus rolled up to the stop and me and a few other kids I'd made sure to stand as far away as possible from got on. I smiled at Steve, my tall and older bus driver, and he winked at me. I slid my nightlit Cinderella Castle drawstring bag off my shoulder and next to me by the window seat. I'd walked all the way to the back, past the stares and faces of boys and girls I didn't know.

I sat alone, listening to my monster Disney playlist to calm my jitters. Every time the bus lurched to a stop and the doors opened, I prayed whoever came on wouldn't ask to sit with me. Thankfully I was able to get to the school building sitting all by myself.

I stepped out, telling Steve to have a magical day, and got lost in the sea of kids. I took my schedule I'd printed out the day before and passed all the faded cornflower blue lockers, one of which would be mine later, and headed to my homeroom. Room 217.

I took a deep breath before going in.

It was a nice enough classroom, with math equation posters on the walls and the usual SmartBoard as the centerpiece. It was like how Cinderella Castle drew guests to the center of the park and down Main Street‒‒the board coaxed kids into the room. Or at least, it was so bright it caught my eye.

I sat down in the back and drummed my fingers quietly on the standard beige desk.

Other kids filtered in— a few I recognized from the year before. They all sat, and then after the bell rang. I sort of spaced out as a short, frail-looking woman waddled in and started telling what I assumed to be her life's story, she talked for so long. The only thing that stands clear in my mind is calling out "here" when Mrs. Randall called my name. Finally she passed out locks and set us free into the hallway to decorate our lockers, personally my favorite part of the first day.

I fastened the lock on the locker door. It was right outside the room, so it would be easy to remember where it was. Right away I dove into my bag and took out my small world magnet set, putting up all eight on the inside. Stupid school rules, we weren't allowed to decorate the outsides of our lockers and fully express ourselves. But other than that, school wasn't actually as bad as I'm describing it. I was just grumpy about the first day. I liked learning. Except math. Math was cursed.

I stuck some more magnets on, my favorite being the heavy three-dimensional Cinderella Castle with the caption, "The Most Magical Place on Earth." I put it on the top of the door, so it looked like all my other magnets were stemming from it, like the lands of the park I loved so much from it's landmark and symbol. I also decorated with pictures of my family's many Disney World vacations. How happy and close we were in them made me smile softly to myself.

Suddenly, I heard loud pop music playing behind me. I whipped around and saw a familiar girl with black twin braids and a bright aqua shirt. She was jamming to the music's beat. I could see her black-and-white striped socks without looking down, they were so tall. Once I did, I saw she was wearing black Adidas slides.

"Hey, stranger," she yelled. I assumed she went deaf because of her music.

"Hey, Jennifer," I echoed back.

"Jenn," she said. I nodded.

"Your cubby looks so drab," she remarked, biting off a piece of a pretzel stick she was holding.

I swung the door open to reveal the inside. "No. See?"

She laughed, but it wasn't mean. "Girl, look at my place,"

She pointed diagonally and a little ways down the hall. Her locker was easy to spot because it was the only one with stuff on the outside. Some quotes written in marker, a few magnets like me, and photos. Photos of her family. Photos with her brother Jeff in them.

I blushed just looking at them. Jeff was blond and smooth and easygoing. He worked as a ride operator on small world. He was so smart, he was doing the College Program even after skipping a few grades to get there.

"So, what's your schedule? We have any torture sessions together?" she asked. I unfolded my paper from my pocket.

"Yeah!" She exclaimed. "Study Hall like last year, Math— the ultimate torture—and Social Studies, like last year too! Great! It's good to have a fellow Disnerd in class,"

Oh, yeah, I should probably mention— she loved Disney. Along with her pictures of Jeff and her other stuff, there were printed sketches by greats like Glen Keane, Mark Henn, Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnson, and more talented animators. That was what she wanted to do. Make art like them.

People started going back in the room after Mrs. Randall called from her post outside her door and started corralling us back in.

"Bye," I said. I waved politely.

"See you fifth for math," She gagged.

I giggled.

Through the rest of the day, I met my teachers, who were all nice— even Math. Well, actually, the Social Studies teacher, Mr. Mason, was actually kind of mean. I realized this as I sat in ninth period. So close to the end of the day, but not quite there yet.

"Now, open your textbooks to page eleven, class," he ordered. Jenn rolled her dark eyes to me from diagonally and closer to the front of the room. I smiled.

I felt myself slipping away as he explained our assignments for the year and how he graded you based on effort and stuff like that. I thought about Cinderella Castle, and how to patch things up with Kyra. And what were the Villains planning—

I was broken out of my thoughts by Mr. Mason tugging on his sweater vest and clearing his throat. "Miss—" he looked down over the rims of his glasses at the lost of our names, "Jennifer Johnson, whatever you are adding to that textbook must be so much more important than reading it. Would you mind sharing it with the class?"

Her pencil stopped moving, her tongue darted back into her mouth, and she dropped the corners of the pages she was holding. "Um— I was just— making some notes,"

He narrowed his beady eyes and I could hear a few kids gasping and laughing.

"Quiet, class. No, Miss Johnson, I would really like to see your notes," He walked over to her desk and picked up the thick textbook.

"Hm," he mused, flipping the page corners. "It looks like a cartoon flipbook of...Donald Duck?"

Kids snickered.

"I advise you next time to just look at the book, and not doodle in it," Mr. Mason looked sternly at her.

"Sorry," Jenn mumbled. She glared daggers at him. Then she turned around to me and stuck out her tongue.

I got off the bus and ran up the driveway, yelling, "I'm home!" Dad opened the door and enveloped me in a hug.

"Hi, sweetie," Rover jumped up on me amd I grinned while he licked my face. "How was the first day?"

I sighed, dropping my backpack off my shoulder. "Okay, I guess. My History teacher's mean,"

He smiled apologetically. "It happens,"

I followed him into the kitchen and took an apple from the bowl on the table. "Yeah, well it's not very fun,"

Later, after Mom got home and the sun started to set, my family started to prep for our annual first-day-of-school ritual we'd done since I was in kindergarten. I stood on my tiptoes to get the Bisquick mix from the cupboard, a huge grin on my face.

"Pancake dinner!" I yelled as Mom and Dad chorused the same words.

Mom smiled. "Lucy, honey, you and Dad can make them without me, okay? I just have to vacuum the living room,"

I rolled my eyes and smirked, Dad exchanging the look with me. "It's fine, Mom,"

She left, and a few seconds later I heard our heavy-duty vacuum cleaner revv up.

"So, anything else interesting happen the first day, sweetie?" Dad asked nonchalantly as he flipped the first pancake on a plate with Minnie's face in the center.

"Not really," I said, shrugging. "Jenn's in some of my classes again. She's fun," _And she has a cute brother_, I thought sheepishly.

"Oh, isn't her older brother doing the College Program? He's a smart guy, I like him," Dad replied, mentioning said cute brother.

"Yeah," I breathed. After that there was a still silence, the only sound coming from the fire under the pan on the stove.

Dad cleared his throat. "Lucy, sweetheart, I feel like you've been acting a little off lately. Mom thinks so too. Is anything going on- is there anything you wanna talk about? Because we're both here for you, hon, no matter what,"

My breath caught in my throat as I started to say no, but I just couldn't get the words out. It was so close, I could've come clean and told him, I could've told him right then and there. All I had to do was say it…

But reality came crashing down on me as I remembered he would never believe me. That hadn't changed. It couldn't have. So I couldn't have said anything then.

I swallowed thickly. "No, Dad, everything's fine. I was just...nervous to start sophomore year. You know, I'm growing up and all that stuff,' I forced a smile on and laughed quietly.

"Okay, but if there's ever anything you want to tell either of us, we're open," Dad joked. He pulled me in close for a hug, and I buried myself in his sweatshirt, feeling empty inside.

_Maybe going to Neverland would've been better than this_, I thought for the smallest second.

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and the high school shenanigans it featured! I had fun writing this one. Thank you to everyone who's reviewed so far, and if you haven't, I would really appreciate it if you did. We're getting into the thick of the story now. **

**Also, just one quick note. M.V. , thank you for your reviews, the criticism you give really helps me out. But I just want to clear something up. In your review for the last chapter, you said that Marcia doesn't believe Haunted Mansion is Disney enough, so Lucy is angry with her, but when Steph says men are stupid, she gets congratulated by Lucy. I'm afraid the line this is in reference to didn't read the way I wanted it to. Steph said what she did partly to provoke Constance into going nuts and smashing the wall to bits, and partly to absently comment on how boys her age and men act in general. However, I want to make it clear that she and Lucy do not hate men. Lucy's "way to go" is supposed to be sarcastic, because she knew Steph said that to aggravate the bride. It apparently did not come out the way I wanted it to. **

**And next, just because the story is developing slowly and so far the girls are just figuring out how to navigate and come to terms with the fact that the Disney characters are real and are in jeopardy doesn't mean I don't have things in store that show these girls are special. They serve a purpose, and I hope you will keep reading long enough to see the rest of the plot play out. I understand it might be frustrating to wait for the answer to the mystery, but otherwise the ride would be over too soon. The five girls are the chosen five, and they might not solve Indiana Jones-style puzzles, but they are part of something bigger and a lot less bite-sized. Think of the whole story as one giant puzzle, as it was called last chapter. And just like I said last chapter, they just got another piece. it will take a while to solve it all, but that's what I believe is the intrigue of this story. Plus, I think a big part of it is the friendship-building, as it is more appealing to me than just fight scenes. The bonds the girls are developing make up the emotional core of this story, and I understand that may not be the most exciting thing to read if you go for action, but it is a huge part of the story. These girls are all brought together by Disney, and it changes their lives in more ways than one. **

**I hope that clears things up correctly and takes care of any concerns you had so far. Again, thank you for the reviews. I do appreciate your input.**


	12. Best Friends Forever

I sat in ninth period, trying my best to at least look alert and like I was paying attention. Mr. Mason was talking about the Civil War, or World War I, or the American Revolution...something like that. Usually I paid attention in class and was a goody two-shoes, but when it came to Mr. Mason and History it was just so hard to keep my mind from wandering.

"And this contest is not just for the History subject, it crosses into areas such as the arts and the performing arts," his voice broke into my head, and I raised it when he mentioned "arts." I said before, I like to draw when I'm not geeking out about the parks.

"It will be due, if you choose to complete it, in a week and a half. The entries for this Academic Awards contest will all be displayed a night two weeks from today, and that night the winners will be picked,"

I actually started listening as he kept going over the project's requirements and a blue piece of paper fluttered to my desk when he walked by to pass out the flyer. I wrinkled my nose at the way he smelled— like old books. Almost like when you walk into a library.

I took the paper in my hands and scanned it: Award contest, a week and a half, expo night after, blah blah blah. I smiled. This would be a fun project. For Art, the directions said I could make a picture of a facet of my life that was important to me and meant something to me. It could even be a person if that was what I wanted.

Finally, the bell rang and I walked with Jenn to our lockers.

"So, you gonna do that project?" she asked, shifting to hold her books in her other arm. "I am. The Art thing,"

"Me too," I said, fiddling with my lock and opening the door. My words almost got lost over the stampede of the rest of the school being freed from class.

My phone sat on the shelf on top, and when I pushed the door open it was brightly lit and buzzing. I reached in and took it out, frowning at the texts that awaited me. It was a back and forth between Alex and Steph. Kyra practically never came on the group chat then. I guessed it was _family stuff _still.

I frowned because they were debating when to go to Magic Kingdom again, but the homework slung over my shoulder weighed heavy.

"Everything okay?" Jenn poked her head over my shoulder and I shoved my phone in my pocket before she could read the texts. "Yeah," I breathed. "Fine,"

We said goodbye and I ruminated on the bus. Disney would have to come first. I'd look up homework answers as fast as I could— towards the end of the ride home I actually started some. But I realized with a sad inward groan this meant I wouldn't have time to do the contest. Definitely not if I barely even had time for my daily work.

I trudged off the bus and trudged home, staring at the quiet sidewalk. It was just me and my thoughts, and a few neighbors playing basketball. I sighed when I got to my door and put on a happy front before sliding my sunny yellow polka-dotted key in.

"Hi, Dad, I'm home!" I called over Rover's barks. I bent down and gave him a good scratch behind his ears.

"Hi, Luce, how was school?" He asked, coming down the stairs. I stretched my smile a little wider, my mind running wild. It was strange how the happiest places on earth were starting to make my life anything but happy.

"Good," Would he be able to tell I was sighing again?

"I have a lot of homework, though," I blurted, choosing to look at the bronze lamp above me instead of at him.

"Okay, honey. Have fun!" He quipped, walking away into the kitchen.

I closed my eyes and took another deep breath. Ugh, it was so hard.

Then I sprinted upstairs and pulled up the shades on my windows, feeling better as light flooded into my room. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and kicked off my sandals as my bed sighed with me when I sat down on it.

It looked like Alex and Steph had decided to meet up at the castle at nine. It was three then.

I had six hours to do my homework, eat dinner, and try my best to make sure Mom and Dad wouldn't see me (or, _not _see me) in bed.

I cracked open my heavy Algebra workbook, the navy blue cover slamming on my magenta carpet, and typed its name and "answer key" into my search bar.

At nine, I checked again to make sure my door was closed and I gently took my blue necklace out of my jewelry box. It was cool to the touch.

I slipped it over my head and thought of Cinderella Castle. I opened my eyes again and it was right in front of me. That never stopped being magical.

But the park wasn't closed yet— fireworks started in a few minutes. So I listened to the hustle and bustle of happy people and their dreams for a second.

But that second ended when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see Alex.

"Hi," she said. I smiled. "Hi,"

She paced around in a messy circle. "Ugh, it's so hard to wait for everybody else to get here. But I'd rather do this than homework, so…" her dark hair ruffled a little in the night breeze. It was unruly, but unleashed down. "This is the only thing I'm ever early for. And we're here before it even closes. I don't know if you saw on the chat, but we're gonna talk about things together tonight,"

I nodded. "We can try to get to the bottom of this. We'll have to tell the Princesses what happened at the Mansion soon, too,"

Then, at almost the same time, Steph and Marcia spawned up in front of us. "You're here now!" Alex yelped, bouncing on her feet. "Can we walk around, I'm bored and I don't want to wait for Kyra,"

I couldn't believe the only one we were waiting on was Kyra, who was pretty much just as Disney-obsessed as me.

"Sure," Steph chewed her gum. "I mean, what else are we gonna do,"

Marcia sighed. "Where do we go?"

I pointed to the mouth of the castle that led through to Fantasyland, my favorite land of the ones in the park. Steph rolled her eyes at the decor and blew her light pink bangs out of her face.

We strolled through the medieval village, Alex whistling a tuneless song as we just walked. It was calming. We didn't say anything, and for those moments we didn't need to. Before I knew it we'd walked all the way to Peter Pan. I looked over to the opposite side and craned my neck. Then I saw _him_.

He brushed some of his shiny blond hair out of his eyes as he waved to the last guests of the night in the boats below him. He was just moving one of his strong arms up to move some hair away from his face and it made my heart race and my throat almost constrict. I wondered what would happen if I ever got any closer to him than riding on a boat. I imagined I would pass out.

Just then, in the darkness a blast of music started. It was Happily Ever After. It snapped me out of my staring at Jeff bathed in the popcorn lights of small world's queue.

"Hey, guys, I'm sorry I'm late, okay?" I whipped around to see Kyra running up to us, out of breath. "Let's go somewhere and talk,"

The song for the fireworks show played as we walked into Pinocchio'sVillage Haus. Even though Kyra made me upset and threw off my mojo, the warm lighting and din of conversation inside put a smile on my face.

"Ooh, is this the place where the people watch you go in the boat ride with the kids and hold up the signs that tell you to sing and stuff?" Alex babbled, grinning like a little kid.

"Yeah," I answered, feeling my face get hot as I realized if we sat by the windows that looked down on the attraction I might be able to see the back of Jeff.

"Let's go sit up there," she giggled, pulling my hand.

I couldn't control my breathing once we sat down at the table facing the entrance to small world and if I tried really hard, I could see the back of Jeff's head and costume from across the way. Alex was having the time of her life holding up the white and blue signs and waving at guests going in, and Steph put her head in her hands when she yelled at them things like, "You know your shoes're untied, right? I can see it from here!" and "Sing louder! I wanna hear you! Come on— Let it go! Let it go! 'Cause I'm one with the break of dawn!"

Kyra sighed good-naturedly. "It's 'I am one with the wind and sky',"

"Oh, okay," she said, putting her sign down for a minute. "You know, this is fun, but are we gonna talk about what happened in the haunted house?"

Steph tugged her hair in thought. "It doesn't make any sense. The lights on rides are going out, which the bad guys obviously did, but then why is it flashing to their jail in some rides? And why are some rides getting this stuff but other ones are fine?"

Jeff scratched the back of his head.

"What do you think, Lucy? Lucy? Hello?"

"Wha— what?" I stammered, blinking at Kyra, who I then felt was poking me.

"What do you think the Villains are up to?" she asked. I took a deep breath. "I don't know. It has something to do with their jail, but what are they trying to do— they aren't even supposed to have any power, that's why they're locked up, right?"

"I thought they were 'locked up' so they were kept away from the Characters. You know, 'out of sight, out of mind'," Marcia cut in pointedly.

"Maybe the Villains are trying to lock up the rides. But how would that be good for them? They're still in jail then," Alex added. I gasped.

"Alex, that's genius!" I exclaimed, jumping up. "They want to imprison the rides! But how do they have so much power? And why are some rides like Pirates and the Mansion getting blackouts but small world's just having lighting problems? It still doesn't add up,"

There was quiet between us as we listened to the ambiance of other people chatting and eating while we thought and took it all in.

Then it was broken with the ring of Kyra's phone to "Little April Shower."

As the first notes rang out she took her phone out of her pocket and put it to her ear.

"Yeah, Ramona, I'll be there in a few minutes,"

She hung up and cleared her throat.

"That was my little sister. Sorry guys, but I have to go," she smiled and her chair made an ugly noise on the floor as she pushed it back.

My mind raced while I watched her walk off through the crowd. She barely interacted with us! I realized I needed to be up front about the situation instead of sidestepping it to make nice. I thought I understood she had problems at home, but in my mind it didn't give her the license to shirk her responsibility to the parks. We needed to save them— together.

And I made up my mind then and there I would make Kyra see it.

"I'll be right back, guys," I bit out, leaving them behind and taking big steps out of the quaint restaurant and into the night. I saw Kyra's long blond hair and teal eyes illuminated by the sparkle of her necklace. She held it up in her fist backed into the corner of the village facade that wrapped around the land, looking around nervously to make sure nobody would see her zap back.

"Hey," I growled, pounding up to her. My blood coursed hot through my feet and put pressure on them as I hit the warm stone ground.

"Hey," she said lightly, smiling and turning her back to me.

"You can't keep leaving like this," I let that hang in the air for a few seconds, waiting for her to respond.

She just blinked. "Yes, I can, Lucy— I have to, my sister needs me for moral support,"

I made a noise that in hindsight is completely embarrassing, something I'll describe as a mixture of a groan and a scream with a dash of an angry sigh. "You keep bringing up _your sister_, but it's been months, okay? When are you gonna get back to normal and invest yourself— and hang out with us?"

She gasped, appalled at me. Now I totally get why— I was being grossly inappropriate— but in the moment I was just mad. "I have a personal life, alright? I don't have all the time in the world to run around Disney World and live in magic and pixie dust! It might be sad for you, but it's true— the reality is bad things happen and other things that aren't Disney happen! I have to _make time _for this, and I'm happy to, but I can't always be ready to 'hang out' twenty-four-seven,"

"Neither can I, but I'm here more often than you!" I shot back.

` "Well, with how much you bug everybody about meeting up, it looks like you have nothing else to do!" she yelled. Luckily the thinning crowds were kind of loud and in their own world, so no one really paid much attention to us.

I took a ragged breath. "Either devote enough time to this wonderful opportunity that it deserves, or leave because you shouldn't deserve to have it," I whispered. Instantly I wanted to take it back.

"No!" Kyra exclaimed, backing away. "You don't get to take this away from me,"

My vision started to blur a little bit, and I wiped my eyes. "I just wanted to hang out with you. You're my first real friend, and we don't spend much time together anymore. And Disney is my life, it's such a huge part of me— and now I get to be part of it, too. I guess I just want to be there all the time, even though I can't. I tried," I said brokenly. I just stood there, wishing I could be as happy as everyone around me.

"You're my best friend, Lucy," Kyra took my hand. "And you're right, my life's been complicated lately. And I don't mean to sound, well, mean— but calm down, it's my issues and none of your business. I'll figure it out, and we'll always hang out and save _this_," she waved her other hand out all around us, and stars were practically in her blue-green eyes.

"I'm sorry," I breathed, pulling her in for an impromptu hug. I felt my heartbeat slow to normal, and I stopped feeling like I was having an out-of-body experience. In other words, I calmed down, just like Kyra said.

Things were already better.

Two sweltering weeks later I hugged Mom and Dad at the Academic Awards Expo right before I went up onto the stage to present. I thundered up the steps, giggling under my breath as the microphone exploded with feedback and picked up the sounds.

I grabbed it and laughed again as it wouldn't budge from the stand and my hand covering it made it screech even louder.

"Sorry," I yelled just when I wrenched it free. My stomach lurched as

I careened back from the force of pulling it, making the auditorium audience laugh.

"Here goes nothing," I whispered to myself before taking a deep breath and speaking from the heart, in the moment.

"This color drawing—" I swung my arm out to the canvas displayed on an easel next to me. "This color drawing is of my best friend, Kyra. She might not go to this school, and our friendship might've had its fair share of ups and downs since we met, but none of that matters to me because she's so special. The directions for this project said to pick something or someone that means something to me, and I can't think of anybody else—besides Mom and Dad, obviously, hi guys— who has pushed me to be more than I ever thought I could be,"

I basked in the applause for a minute, grinning from ear to ear.

"Which is why I'm so happy to accept third place prize, but I think if I'm honest, I owe it to Kyra. She inspired me to make this with all the magic we experience together," I finished, coming back to earth as I stepped off the stage. I chuckled to myself.

They'd never know the extent of the magic.

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! As always, if you haven't reviewed already, please consider it! They really help me out.**


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